


The Bones of What You Believe

by la_reve



Category: Sterek - Fandom, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, Slow Build, alternative universe, musician!stiles, surgeon!Derek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-24
Updated: 2014-10-10
Packaged: 2018-02-05 23:45:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 32,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1836520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/la_reve/pseuds/la_reve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles has been gone for 5 years. After graduation, he packed his bags and left, without a single word uttered to his father, friends, and Derek. He couldn't live with the thought of not being himself around the people he cared about tremendously. He was done putting his life in danger and talking with his ass. He was ready for a new life but what happens when he finds himself staring at the one thing he was actually running away from?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Better Than Words

Stiles stepped on stage, his hands a little clampy from sweat. He's been doing this for over three weeks now and yet, he's still nervous before every show. A roar filled the room and tickled his ears as they vibrated with the uproar. He raised a hand out into the crowd and laughed nervously as he approached the microphone and connected his lips to it.  
"How we doing tonight Seattle?" applause erupted from almost everyone in the room along with a few shouts and a random 'I love you!'.  
"Hah, I love you too! Now how about we start this thing, yeah?" Applause started again and the band started off with a slow tempo. Stiles lips reconnected with the microphone as his hands rested on the keyboard laid out in front of him. Words fell from his lips as he spilled out the first lines of the song out.

"Well I saw you fall back once love."  
But I can't stay  
Stay like this weather swirls,  
Cause you've become sick like this winter boy.  
Two more days, just two more. 

"Now I see."  
Don't you say that I've gone crazy.  
Because I haven't gone crazy yet.  
Yeah, I haven't gone crazy.  
I just lost my mind,  
But I still got you. 

His eyes skimmed over the first row and he half smiled at a few girls singing back his own lyrics. This was the reason he enjoyed performing for others. He loved with people would scream back his lyrics in his face. This is what fuels him.

"Stay up late so you're sure."  
Sure that I wont stray too far,  
But surely that got too hard.  
Love is not for me,  
I promise.  
Love is not for me.  
One more day, just one more. 

"Now I see."  
Don't you say that I've gone crazy.  
Because I haven't gone crazy yet.  
Yeah, I haven't gone crazy.  
I just lost my mind,  
But I still got you. 

He craned his neck a bit and swore he saw a familiar face but it couldn't be who he thought it was. He turned his head and smiled to his friend, Ben, his lead guitarist who, on queue, began singing the rest of the chorus as he passionately sang into the microphone the next verse at the same time.

"I'd stay If I ever could,"  
Stay if I ever could.  
And pick up your pieces babe,  
Cause there's never a perfect day. 

Everyone cheered and he smiled and did a little bow in his place behind the keyboard. Stiles moved aside the keyboard and picked up his guitar.  
"You guys ready to pick up the pace a bit?' Everyone hollered and Stiles laughed in the mic.  
"Yeah, me too. Let's go!"

(

)

Stiles left the stage all covered in his own sweat. He was laughing on his way back to the green room when Scott, his best friend and also the reason he's on tour, pulled him aside.  
"Man, I don't think I'll ever get sick of seeing you performing and getting the crowd riled up for us."  
"No problem dude. Isn't that what best friends are for?" Scott chuckled and patted him on the back.  
"Hey, before I go, someone's lo-" Before Scott could finish his sentence, a wild Allison appeared and nearly started eating Scott's face off. Stiles laughed after they detached and she went to give him a hug and kiss on the cheek.  
"I feel a little sweaty and you guys seem a little horny, so I'm going to go but before I leave, what were you saying Scott?" But sadly, Stiles never got an answer. Scott was engrossed in whatever Allison was talking about and didn't even hear his best friend which was usually when Allison was around.  
He walked around back and into the green room where his band was nearly all passed. He smiled and went into the shower (that was thankfully empty).  
After is quick shower, he went out and grabbed himself a slice of the cold pizza that was lying on the coffee table. He walked out and found Allison standing next to a strawberry (and feisty) girl. He approached them with the cold pizza still in his hand.  
"Hi Lydia." Stiles said as he came to stand right beside her. They dated for a brief time towards the end of their senior year but it wasn't exactly how he pictured it to be. It wasn't all daisies and rainbows, it was fights over little things and lots of kissing (which he wasn't particularly upset about).  
"Hi Stiles. Ugh, still can't figure out how to function a microwave I see." She smirked and he can still see why he was madly in love with her for years. She's changed though since the last time he saw her - which was two years ago.  
"I'm still incompetent as ever." He smiled and took a huge bite of his pizza.  
"Shame. Oh, I have to introduce you to my fiancé, Jason!" He was surprised she didn't say Jackson. You would think they would have rekindled their love after high school but Jackson fell in love with France more than he did with Lydia.  
"That would be neat." Stiles wasn't bitter over her new love. He was really happy for her. She deserved to find someone who was one-hundred percent faithful in the relationship. Something he couldn't give her.  
"How long are you going to be in the states for?" Stiles no longer lived America. He moved to Australia without exposing his whereabouts to anyone. In Australia he decided to go to college and major in music production. It gave him the opportunity to move around, and never fully stay in one single place for too long - if the off chance that Scott ever tried to sniff him out when he was running away from Beacon Hills.  
"I actually might be moving here in Seattle. I really like this state and it's close to California and Canada, where I usually travel." He ate off the last bit of his crust and turned to look at Lydia who was currently giving a look to Allison who wore the same look.  
"What? Did I miss something?" Both girls looked at him but before Allison could answer, Ben came out of the green room.  
"Is there anymore food? I'm absolutely starving." Stiles laughed and walked back with Ben. He still was curious as to what was going on with everyone. It's like they all knew a secret that he wasn't exactly in on, even if it did pertain to him.


	2. Fools and Luxury

"What I'm saying is, now that we're off from touring, you might need a bit of extra cash and my aunt works at the local diner and I can totally hook you up with a job." Ben said as he turned a corner and headed towards said diner his aunt works at. Stiles rolled his eyes and stared out the window as gloomy Mount Vernon whirled past them. Ben pulled into a little parking lot and parked the car.  
"Since you're planning on residing here, might as well get a job." Stiles looked at Ben and sighed heavily.  
"Fine, whatever man. It would be my total honor to be a bus boy." Stiles got out of the car and walked towards the entrance before running into someone's chest.  
"Oomf." Stiles stumbled at bit as strong hands gripped his arms to steady him.  
"Hey, oh god, are you okay? I should really watch where I'm going." Stiles eyes met with the darkest browns that held worry all over them.  
"Uh, yeah. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention where I was walking." The man still hadn't let go of Stiles arms but soon released when Stiles glanced down at the hold he had on him.  
"No, it's fine. Here," the mystery man held open the door for Stiles to walk in. "hope that counts for something." He smiled as Stiles nodded and walked towards a nearby booth. Ben finally appeared and sat down in front of Stiles.  
"Where the hell were you?! I just embarrassed myself!" Stiles hissed at Ben.  
"Oh, you do a fine job of embarrassing yourself without me there anyways. I don't see why you needed me to prove your suspicions." Ben said as he flipped through the menu, not taking his eyes off it. Stiles huffed in defeat and sank back into his seat, clearly annoyed with his best friend. Ben finally glanced up and threw a smirk his way as his eyes drifted from Stiles, to a rather curvy, older woman.  
"Oh, there's my aunt. Aunt Shelly! Hi!" Ben waved his hand over and Aunt Shelly appeared. She looked as though she were in her early, mid forties. The only thing giving away her age was the few grey hairs.  
"Well tickle me pink, I haven't seen you in a few years Ben!" Her face brightened up as she pinched her nephews cheek. Stiles eyed them curiously and wondered if Ben is certain this is his aunt because she was way more _country_ than Ben could ever be.  
"Aunt Shelly, this is Stiles. He's going to live here now and is in desperate need of a job." Stiles blushed as he waved his hand at her.  
"Well hello Stiles. Odd name you have there." She smiled at him as she placed her pen and pad in her apron pockets.  
"It's actually a nickname."  
"Ah, well, good to know. We actually do have an opening for a waiter position and I think your cute face will reel in more than our usual customers." She winked at him and Stiles feels his face light up like a Christmas tree.  
"That's great. Stiles is eager to start whenever." Ben inputs from his side of the booth, "But in the meantime, how about we get some grilled turkey sandwiches?"  
"You got it." She walked away then, leaving Stiles to really wonder how he came into the position to begin with.

Derek sighs as he tries to finish up his paper for a presentation tomorrow morning. It wasn't like being a surgical doctor didn't have his perks, but when it came to these papers and presentations for his peers, he usually regretted the field in which he decided to devote his love in.  
"Whatcha working on?" Derek's boyfriend, Kyle, asked as he pecked Derek on the temple and took a seat on the other side of the table.  
"Just talking about operating on lungs and the off chance of your patient dying on you. You know, the usual."  
"I'm starting to wonder if your 'usuals' are considered sane." Derek smirked and decided to give the paper a rest, he'll work on it in a few. Derek walked around to Kyle's side of the table and took a seat on his lap. He leaned in for a kiss which quickly turned into tongues being sucked into to one another's mouth. Kyle pulled away and barely pecked Derek's lips as he tapped his thighs, indicating that he had to get up now.  
"As much as I want to blow the shit out of your mind now, I am already late to work. I'll see you later." Kyle works as a night security guard. He leaves early because he claims the morning traffic is way less worse than the evening traffic which Derek seriously can't argue with.  
"Oh, I brought you something from that diner in Mount Vernon. Almost spilled coffee all over me when I bumped into a kid this morning." Kyle says as he slips on his security jacket. This is news to Derek but he doesn't pester him with questions since he is already late to work. Kyle comes over and gives a breathless kiss to Derek.  
"See you."  
"Bye." And with that, he's off, a little too fast in his walk to leave the house.

He knows this is totally wrong and he seriously should not do it, but he is in severe need of companionship when Kyle leaves for and he barely seems him for days. So this is good for the both of them right? So he won't feel guilty about buying a dog when he knows fully well how their schedules work.  
He did a great job in explaining the importance of Lobectomy surgery so in reward of his success, he decided to celebrate by buying himself a companion. He honestly could just run around with wolves again but then that would mean him going all Alpha and having to control a bunch of Omegas and Betas, which is never fun (in theory).  
He walks into the store without second regrets and looks down at the puppies that yipped happily and could possibly sense they he was in fact, a happy "big puppy". His eyes widen when he saw a chocolate lab puppy in the corner, either oblivious towards his presence or honestly did not care.  
"Is it a boy or a girl?" He obviously could tell it was a boy just by smelling the air but he at least needed to pretend he was a normal person who did not have supernatural abilities.  
"A boy. All his siblings have been adopted, even claimed before he was born. Poor little guy, it's like he's never going to get out of here." Derek feels for the dog so he instantly nods at the person he's helping him.  
"Mind helping me gather some stuff for that guy right there." He points directly at the chocolate lab he simply slumps down as he was going to take a nap.  
"Sure!"  
They walked around the stores aimlessly, Terry, his helper for the day, tossed things into his cart since they were "must-haves" for a new puppy. Derek just quietly followed along while still hanging on to everything Terry said.  
Once they were all done and everything was packed into the car (minus the harness and leash), they walked back inside. Terry picks up the dog who suddenly yips in surprise, Derek thinks because his time has finally come. Terry sets him down on the floor and the puppy looks between the two, as if this was some practical joke being made.  
"Looks like you're coming home with me buddy." As if those words triggered something within the dog, he jumped and barked at Derek's feet as he put on his leash and harness and walked a very happy dog into the car.

Thankfully the car ride was uneventful except for the nameless companion trying to sneak down between Dereks' legs - and yes, he should have put him in the back but if you saw his face, you'd cave in too.  
Derek took the puppy in the backyard and let him roam free for a bit, just so Derek can get his things situated in the house. He came out then, a tennis ball in hand, and whistled for the dog to come to him. It took the puppy five minutes to remember he had an owner but he bouncily came back and stopped right at Derek's feet.  
'I'm going to throw you the ball and you're going to bring it back to me okay..." A second passed before he added, "Dax?" He shook his head as he threw the ball and watched as the dog dashed after it, not missing a beat.  
"Woah, impressive, Baxter?" He was just testing out names now and the puppy did not seem impressed by any of them so far. He threw the ball around a couple of time, he barely registered how exhausted the puppy must be.  
"You're pretty quick on learning things, aren't you? Kind of like lightening." The puppy cocks his head to the side as a great name finally comes to his mind.  
"I think I'll call you Zeus then." He pets the dog as he wags his tail. They retreat back in where Derek serves Zeus his rightful meal and he heats up the leftovers from last nights dinner.

Stiles really hates waking up early in the morning. He _really_ hates it. He hears Scott's alarm go off and he almost wants to suffocate himself with his pillow. And Scott still does not budge. He thought Scott was going to stay over at Allison's but they had a fight which induced Scott into drinking a couple of four lokos and crying on Stiles' lap. Not that he cared, except that meant he had to get up and work out with Scott at freakin' four in the morning before Scott goes back to his day job as a vet with Deaton. It wasn't his house though so he couldn't shut down Scott.  
"Dude, if you don't turn that thing off and get your ass out of bed, I'm gonna suffocate you with my pillow." All he received was a groan from Scott and something being hit repetitively - which meant Scott trying to turn off his alarm without looking at it.  
"We have to get up..." Stiles could barely make out the words his best friend was trying to say cause they were muffled by Scott basically eating his pillow.  
"Yeah, okay, no. Since you woke me up, we're exercising now or never." Stiles basically forces himself up so fast, he gets lightheaded. He shakes his head and goes over to Scotts bed, practically dragging him off. With a few signs of protest, he slumps off from his bed and onto the floor while Stiles goes and refreshes himself up in the bathroom.  
It wasn't like Stiles or Scott was out of shape, they were both toned up and had a good thing going for them. But the way they eat, they had to work out at least twice a week and they were excruciating work outs.  
Stiles walks back into the bedroom after trying to pee with a morning wood. It hurt like hell, but he'll live. Scott was already changed into his basketball shorts and no t-shirt. Although no flap existed on Stiles, he always settled for another pair of sweats and a raggedy t-shirts. As they made their way downstairs and into the kitchen, they both grabbed two water bottles. It was silent between the two, and not the comfortable silence they usually shared. It was like something was on Scotts mind and he was on the verge of saying it but stopped himself every time.  
"So Allison and I got into a fight last night."  
"I figured, what for?" Stiles took a gulp of his water.  
"Wasn't about us this time. About... Someone else. We both had two very different opinions on it." He shrugged and went to grab the Insanity workout CD.  
"Well I'm always here to help if you need a mediator." Scott tensed up then and then slowly relaxed.  
"I think we're just going to not interfere, but thanks anyways." Stiles eyed him for a bit but refused to question him more. It's not his business to begin with.  
"Let's start this now." They played it and were ready to take on Week 6 of Insanity.

Stiles drove to work with Scott since he wasn't planning on doing anything all day. They walked in and Deaton greeted them and congratulated them on their successful tour. Stiles basically followed Scott around for the whole afternoon and helped with feeding, and taking out the dogs for their afternoon walks.  
Nothing interesting happened except an older lady brought her pitbull in who got too friendly with a porcupine and his muzzle was covered in needles. It was time for lunch for them and they were dismissed into the back. As they ate and chatted about a baseball game they should attend in the future, commotion was heard from upfront.  
"I would do it but I'm a human surgeon, not an animal one." They both heard a rough voice say. They both walked out and found Deaton looking at a bloody chocolate lab in his arms.  
"Scott, get the room ready." Scott nodded and rushed to the back of the room, leaving Stiles to peer behind Deaton and make eye contact with someone he thought he would never see again. _Derek_.  
Derek almost dropped the puppy from his arms as his face remained still but his eyes passed through multiple emotions at once. Stiles was shocked into place by not only this surprise, but by the fact that there was a bloody dog in his arms.  
"Stiles, don't just stand there, get me a towel please!" Deaton yelled, finally shaking Stiles from his trance. He grabbed a towel off the cabinet and shakily handed it to Deaton, who quickly wrapped it around the bleeding puppy.  
"Tables ready." Scott appears out of nowhere and his eyes land on Stiles and then to Derek before his mouth forms an "O" shape.  
"Stiles, follow us back there." Stiles nods and doesn't look up as Derek stands behind the counter, like he was conflicted but didn't want to say anything.  
As soon as they are out of ear shot, Stiles practically punches Scott in the face.  
"Why the hell didn't you tell me he moved here too!"  
"You never gave me the chance!"  
"Scott hand me the scissors." Scott obliged and Stiles looked torn between into grabbing and gorging his eyes out or stabbing Scott.  
"This can't be happening! Out of all places I choose to live, he has to reside in the same neighborhood! I haven't even had time to start my new job and I already want to skip this town!" Stiles knows he's being overdramatic but who could blame him. Deaton and Scott share a look as they work on the puppy. They managed to stop the bleeding and close up his wound and Stiles starts to wonder how it got there.  
"Hello? Can anyone tell me what's going on?" He hears Derek call and he can feel his blood run cold.  
"Go tell him everything is fine." Scott says nonchalantly. As if it were that easy.  
"No."  
"Stiles, do it now so he doesn't think we're trying to murder his dog!" Stiles sighs and basically almost cries as he heads back out to face something he's been running away from for years.  
"Is my do- Oh." Is all Derek manages to say when Stiles peeps out the corner. He wants to scream in his face that that's all he can say?! _Oh?_ He doesn't though because he is mature enough to act like a civil adult on the verge of a major breakdown.  
"Uh, your dog is fine." He hates how his voice sounds so small, giving away his cowardice.  
"Can I see him?"  
"Yeah, just come around back." Stiles is about to walk away when he hears Derek _laugh_.  
"Mountain Ash won't let me through." And oh yeah, Stiles almost forgets Derek is an Alpha. Almost.  
"Sorry." He mumbles mostly to himself as he bends down and makes a fine line with his finger through the ash. Derek passes through the threshold and is basically hovering over Stiles and Stiles has to gulp in a huge amount of air as he steadies himself up again.  
"Follow me." His voice squeaks when he says me and he almost wants to hide his face in dirt forever. Derek doesn't say much as they make their way to the surgery room - guess things don't change much. Scott walks out then, his lab coat sleeve covered in blood - Stiles hopes its the dogs.  
"Your dog is doing fine now Derek... Stiles, are you okay?" Did Stiles forget to mention that over the years he developed a hatred towards blood and he grows faint at the sight of it? Because he totally does.  
"Uh yeah."  
"Your face is pale. Take a seat dude." Stiles definitely wants to die now because he is literally seconds away from passing out in front of Scott and _Derek_ and oh god, how embarrassing is that? Stiles did oblige though and took the seat as he watched Scott remove the blood lab coat and drop it into the hamper. He could feel the blood rush back into his face and he drops his head into his hands and feels eyes on him. He's hoping its Scotts but he knows who actually is watching him.  
"What I was saying before, what happened to your dog anyways?"  
"I didn't try to wrestle him if that's what you're implying," Derek states, "I have an opening in my fence that I wasn't made aware of and looks like my dog found it." Stiles didn't have to look at Derek to know he had guilt written all over his face.  
"You should really close up that hole."  
"Yeah." And Stiles doesn't know if Derek means the hole in his fence or the hole in Stiles' heart but he's hoping for the latter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)  
> This story was previously posted on another site but it wasn't receiving the feedback (or any if that) that I wanted so I decided to post it here instead.


	3. Of Moons, Birds, and Monsters

Stiles has attempted leaving about eight million times since he almost fainted in front of Derek but sadly he was Scotts ride so he had no choice but to stay. He thumbs at his phone while awkwardly sitting away from Derek as he waits for news about his puppy.  
"Well we're going to leave him here overnight for observation." Deaton says and Stiles sighs out loud.  
"Can I see him before I leave? I got a call from work just now and it doesn't look like I'll be back until tomorrow night."  
"Do you have anyone who can pick Zeus up?" Derek almost hesitates to answer.  
"No." He states flatly, and Stiles doesn't realize he was holding in a breath.  
"Well Scott, looks like you're crashing here for the night." Stiles almost feels bad for Scott but he just knows he'll get persuaded into spending the night with him as well.  
"He's resting now but you can see him before you go." Derek nods and follows Deaton into the back.  
"Guess you're spending the night with me huh?" Stiles groans but doesn't protest.  
"As long as I get couch because my first shift starts tomorrow and I do need my beauty sleep." Scott belly laughed but didn't object to it. Derek and Deaton walk out then.  
"Uh, thanks." Derek says as he rubs his hand on the back of his head. Scott nodded and Stiles refused to make eye contact with him.  
"I need to go get some fresh air." He states.  
"Bring back some clean clothes!" Scott calls after him. He walked outside and hopped into his jeep but as he sat down, he glanced in his rear view mirror just as Derek stared right back.  
As Stiles drove home, he thought about the way his heart faltered at the sight of Derek. He knows his old crush on Derek is what it should have remained - old and petty. But he can't help and wonder what Derek thought of him as the mixed emotions flashed before his eyes. He'll admit, he's been dying to see the new Derek and boy, is he ever going to disappoint? But is he really willing to give up his semi-normal life for Derek again? He should be worried about the 'no' that crosses his mind but he isn't affected by it one bit.  
Derek really tries not to think about Stiles when he drives to the hospital. No. He really doesn't think of Stiles while he's changing into his scrubs or when he glances into a mirror by the exit of the locker room. He's wrecked and he doesn't know if its from his reencounter with Stiles or the fact that he can't even keep his new dog in check.  
During most of his shift, Derek is uncharacteristically sloppy. He zones out for two brief seconds during a lung transplant and he basically slips on some gloves he threw onto the floor. He absolutely hated not being on his A-game but he couldn't help it when literally the one thing on his mind was _Stiles_.  
"Hey man, you okay?" Boyd asks as they take their usual seat in the cafeteria. Derek huffs as a response to one of his Omegas.  
"You know, you could tell me if something is up."  
"It's just my dog." Derek lies. Well it's a white lie, because he is worried about his dog, but his concern is for an actual living human this time.  
"Since when did you get a dog?"  
"Since a day and a half ago and I had to take him to the Vet this morning because he cut open his leg." Derek has no interest in his turkey sandwich anymore. All he could think about was Stiles hazel-like eyes.  
"Couldn't you like, take away his pain or something?"  
"I did Boyd. But I am no magician, he needed serious work done to his cut." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, frustration taking over him because yeah, Boyd is asking too many questions for his liking. He gets up then, not waiting for a response from Boyd and exits the cafeteria. He had enough of the slight interrogation and his shift just started. He just needed to focus on things that matter. And what mattered were the patients, not 'covered-in-moles-boys-with-hazel-like-eyes'.  
Stiles raked through his closet to find his uniform and some nightwear for Scott and him to sleep in. He wasn't particularly fond of the idea of sleeping on a couch but it beat sleeping on the floor.  
He gets back into his jeep and drives towards the veterinary office. And no, he totally did not take the long road (by the hospital, might he add) just of the off chance he might see Derek again, cause that's just beyond weird. He pulls up into the parking lot almost an hour later with a bag full of clothes and an arm full of food. He was totally not going to starve them to death. He tosses the bag behind the counter and starts putting things away in the mini fridge.  
"Hey, Allison is coming over later and I kind of want to take her to see the mountain view before she has to head back to California. Mind if I use your car?"  
"I swear to jeebus, if you guys have sex in my car, I will sacrifice you to some ancient Gods or something." Stiles receives an eye roll from Scott but he knows that that is exactly whats going to happen. At least someone out of this friendship is getting laid. So what if Stiles is jealous? It isn't like he receives any action while on tour. He has to settle on his left hand and pornos to satisfy his need. It's not like he can go up to any guy and say, "Hey, please take away my virginity although you're not the man of my dreams who lives in a town I ran away from.". That's just weird and pathetic. He did manage to get a few handjobs with some skeevies at a gay club a few years back, but that's it. It wasn't like he wasn't looking, it's just that his taste was very particular. Six foot two, dark hair, and very grumpy particular.  
Stiles sighed as he made his couch and lied down in it. It's only four in the afternoon but he feels as though he should be doing something important. He should probably call his dad to see how he's holding up Beacon Hills, but for all he knows, his dad could be on duty right now.  
"Hey, are you going to ask me?" Scott says from by his feet.  
"Ask you what?" Stiles sits up then and Scott takes a seat.  
"Ask me about Derek." Well, he is curious but he won't say it. Scott sighs then.  
"After you left, he moved to New York with Cora and took a job as a nurse in Manhattan. I guess he worked his way up ad finally landed his dream career within two years. He was transferred here about eighteen months ago with Boyd. He lives with some guy named Kevin? I forget." And yeah, no, Stiles' heart doesn't sink at those words.  
"Oh. Cool." He manages to say after a serious amount of time.  
"Maybe you should move on too?"  
"You seriously did not tell me all that to say I have to move on?"  
"It's for the best."  
"For your information Scott, I have moved on, thank you very much. I don't need anyone telling me that." Stiles huffs and gets up then, feeling ridiculously offended.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."  
"Well you succeeded, congrats." He left then, not even sure of where he was going.  
Those few hours before bed were awkward and Stiles' pride was hurt but whatever, Scott was right. He wouldn't think about it then, he had work to worry about work the following day instead.

Seven in the morning rolled around too fast and he was dragging himself up to freshen up before work. He put on his black skinnys, a white button up, and his green apron. He looked so awkward but it's work and it will help pay for the condo he is purchasing over the weekend. It isn't like he wasn't fond of staying in a hotel room or crashing on someone's couch, he just doesn't want to have back pains so early in his life.  
He doesn't bother waking up Scott, but he does scribble a note to him before grabbing a Starbucks coffee and some zebra cake. He heads out, pretty sure traffic will be light for his forty-five minute voyage.

Once he arrives with fifteen minutes before opening, he finds Aunt Shelly already waiting for him.  
"Well you're here early. Guess I could show you the ropes now instead of having you follow me around like a puppy." Stiles smiled and followed Aunt Shelly around while she showed him the ropes.

Nine rolled around and a few of the elderly customers came in.  
"Hi, I'm Stiles, I'll be serving you today." He says with a smile as he hands the elderly ladies menus.  
"Well aren't you just so sweet?" The lady with glasses states.  
"Margaret, you'll embarrass him! You know, you should meet my granddaughter. She's about your age." All Stiles did was smile. What more could he do? It wasn't like he could explain that he was bisexual but he prefers guys at the moment - well one guy in particular.  
"What can I start you young ladies off with?"  
"Oh, a smooth talker. Well, we'll both have some grits and biscuits please. Oh and coffee." They handed Stiles back their menus, dismissing him of his duties. He walked back and placed the order on the island that separates the kitchen and counter.  
"Grits, biscuits, and some coffee please."  
"You got it." Isaac, was the chef here and from what he told Stiles, they went to Beacon Hills High together. Either Stiles was deficient or this guy was lying, either way, he didn't prowl. He really doesn't like that half of Beacon Hills moved to Seattle but there's not much he can do.  
After the meal was prepared, he delivered it back to the ladies who were engrossed in the news about 'monsters'.  
"I'm telling you, the generation of today trying to bring back the dead or something. You know I heard werewolves used to roam around California, in some town called Bacon Mills." Stiles almost burns his hand while pouring coffee.  
"Oh Meryl, don't be silly. It was coyotes roaming around that place. Now the Loch Ness monster is what I really want to talk about."  
"Will that be all?" Stiles says awkwardly. He just really wants to get away.  
"Yes, sweetie, that would be it." He walked away and stood by the cash register, just in case more customers walk in. And of course, he walks in.  
"Shit..." Stiles mutters under his breath as Derek approaches him. He hasn't even looked up yet cause he was typing something on his phone. Stiles almost hides. Derek looks up then and freezes in place.  
"I swear I'm not stalking you or anything like that." He says as soon as he's within earshot. Stiles just blinks in response while trying to breathe normally again.  
"Will you be dining in?" He starts to take out a menu but Derek just shakes his head no.  
"I ordered some take out and they said it should be ready by now." Stiles frowns because it's only been thirty minutes since opening, at what point did he call?  
"I called Shelly personally." Derek peers behind Stiles and Stiles turns to look as Isaac approaches them, four large bags in each hand.  
"Hey Derek, got your orders done." Stiles eyes Isaac suspiciously.  
"Thanks Isaac. How much will that be?" He directs his question to Stiles but he doesn't know. He looks around the counter and finds a scribbled note with Derek's name on it.  
"I guess it'll be fifty-four with thirty-six cents." Derek nodded and handed him his credit card. Stiles shakily swipes it, his fingers skimming over the rising letters of Derek's name. He hands Derek back his card after the transaction was complete. And no he did not pull back fast enough when their fingers brushed.  
"Well this is awkward. Derek, is tonight alright?" Isaac suddenly asks and Stiles would be lying if that didn't peek his curiosity. Derek looks at Stiles first before turning his attention towards Isaac again.  
"How many times do I have to tell you it's fine?" And wow, okay, Stiles doesn't remember Derek to be the giving kind - no matter what.  
"Force of habit I guess."  
"Okay, I have to go now." He grabs his bag and doesn't say another word to Stiles, or Isaac for the matter. Isaac winks at Stiles and heads back into the kitchen just as a few more customers start to arrive.  
He gets back to the veterinary office around nine that night. It wasn't like he had to stay at the diner but he really wanted to learn everything there was to know and try not to screw up as much. Just as he was about to close the door, a foot stops him.  
"Shit, okay, now it looks like I'm stalking you." Stiles wonders if he can suffer from heart palpitations at such an early age.  
"You could be." Stiles shrugs. He takes off his apron and undoes the first two buttons from his button up. Derek coughs and takes a seat.  
"Is Scott here?" Stiles shrugs again.  
"Should be." Derek sighs then.  
"Stiles..." Yeah, Stiles can't do this.  
"I'll go look and see if Scott is here." He walks away quickly. Stiles finds Scott currently coiled up with a naked Allison and Stiles really tries not to scream.  
"Shit, I thought you weren't going to be home until late!" Stiles shields his eyes as the both of them get up to get dressed.  
"What the hell is going on?!" Derek stands behind Stiles and sucks in a huge breath.  
"Once you're done fucking each others brains out, I'd like to get my dog." Derek says in between huffs of breath. Scott nods as he slips on his shirt. Allison shoves on her shoes and pushes past them.  
"Stiles, mind giving me a ride to the airport? My flight leaves at midnight." Stiles nods and heads out with Allison.  
"So Scott tells me you've moved on from Derek." Allison says once they've been driving for five minutes.  
"You guys managed to find time to talk between all the sex you've been having?" He doesn't see but basically _hears_ Allison roll her eyes.  
"We aren't having sex because we're some horny young adults, we're actually trying to get pregnant." Stiles almost swerves the car into another car as he drove Allison to the airport.  
"Stiles!"  
"Wh-what? Oh my god! Congratulations? Like that's what people say right? I'm so happy for you guys." He reaches out his hand and she puts hers into his.  
"Thank you. So, I know you haven't moved on from Derek... Wanna tell me why?"  
"It's not like I can't move on, I just feel as if we have unfinished business."  
"Hmm." After a minute she says, "There's a full moon tomorrow night. Be careful okay?" They arrive at the airport then and Stiles insists on staying but Allison sends him on his way instead.  
Derek gives Zeus his medicine the second he gets home. He puts Zeus on his bed instead of Zeus' cage because that is so not fair. He goes into the guest room then, to tidy up before Isaac arrives.  
He finished putting on the sheets when a knock was heard on the door.  
"I'm coming Isaac." He opens the door for Isaac, his bag is by his feet and a bag from the diner in his hand.  
"Brought some food, unless you totally don't want it then I can throw it away."  
"Why wouldn't I want it? Come in." Derek steps aside then and Isaac enters. His house was fairly large and fairly empty and the few furniture they do have, it's in black, white, or grey. Derek has such a distaste for bright colors.  
"Nice place. Thanks for letting me stay here for a bit."  
"You need help in controlling yourself, all I'm trying to do is help." Isaac nods and kind of just stands there awkwardly.  
"Let me put that in the guest room, you can take out some plates and stuff." He nods his head in the direction of the kitchen and dining room. Isaac walks away then and Derek checks briefly on Zeus.  
"I hope you like all this." Isaac says as he hands him a plate.  
"I like your cooking." Derek shrugs as he takes his usual seat at the table. Isaac pulls a seat right next to him. He had an off look that he looks on the verge on saying.  
"So Stiles..."  
"No." Derek shakes his head to emphasize his point and Isaac immediately drops it.  
Derek awakes to a thumping sound by the door, followed by heavy footsteps leading into his bedroom. Kyle must be back already. He shuts his eyes again and turns to his side - not really wanting to see Kyle for some reason.  
"What the fuck is that?" Oh. Zeus. He forgot to mention that to Kyle. Derek turns around to face a red faced boyfriend.  
"Our dog... I bought him a few days back. I was lonely."  
"You should've bought a fucking dildo instead, not a dog! I'm sleeping in the guest room tonight." Fuck, Derek forgot that too.  
"You can't!" He says practically jumping up.  
"And why not?"  
"Because a friend is staying over for a few days... or weeks." He shrugs as if its not big deal and Kyle literally looks like his face is going to be lit on fire.  
" _What_?"  
"I told him he could stay over because it won't be a big deal - and it isn't." He chooses his words carefully - not for his sake, but for Kyle's.  
"Right. Thanks for keeping me in the loop. I'm going to stay at the motel nearby." He grabbed some of his clothes from the closest drawer and stomped out. Derek didn't even bother to follow.


	4. Intensity of Two Cities

Derek tries really hard to contact Kyle the morning after their fight. Really he tried - to no avail of course. On any other day, he would blame karma for his sheer amount of bad luck (or any luck for that matter) but this was all his doing and if Kyle didn't want to speak right now, Derek would back off. He never consulted Kyle about the whole dog and Isaac situation. He always thinks that what he does is best for him and other parties concerning the situation. Kind of like what happened between him and Stiles - and okay? When did his mind drift to Stiles? Actually who is he kidding. He's always thinking about Stiles lately. Whether it be while he's out shopping and he so happens to make his way to the frozen food section and grabbing a bag (or two) of frozen curly fries. Or even when he's at home and he's cruising through the channels and only stopping when Ghost Adventures is on. Seriously, what has his life come to? He hasn't been like this in such a long time and now that Stiles has waltz back into his life (unwillingly of course), Derek can't seem to get his stupid hazel eyes off his mind. It's like Stiles was a drug and Derek finds himself going to relapse soon.  
Isaac must have sense his confusion seeping off of him cause he comes out of the guest room and walks over to Derek, an eyebrow raised in question. Derek does his best to feign a smile but realizes it comes out too forced cause Isaac makes a really weird face at him but doesn't push anything further. Derek sighs as he skims the rim of his coffee cup with his pointer finger. Maybe he should try calling the motel nearby. He picked up his phone and looked up the number of the motel, quickly dialing it.  
"Hello? Hi, uh, I was wondering if I could call someone who is currently staying at your motel?"  
"Sure honey, what's the name?" Derek awkwardly coughed at the assigned nickname before answering her question.  
"Kyle Mason." He heard her flip something like paper and then a 'tsk' leave her mouth.  
"No Kyle Mason here sweetie pie. When did you say he checked in?"  
"Uh, last night."  
"Oh honey, no one came to check in last night." He felt the pity of her words seep through the phone and Derek grunted out a 'goodbye' before things could get really awkward. Kyle wasn't at the motel, where the hell could he be?

^

Stiles hadn't spent the last twelve years of his life being Scott's best friend for nothing. He knew exactly how Scott worked; what made him tick, what made him laugh, etc. He especially knew how irritated Scott gets around every full moon and tonight was no exception. Stiles might have been the cause of Scott's oh so lovely attitude this morning because he accidently tripped and dropped the coffee cup he was holding. Scott's eyes flashed red for a brief moment before he told Stiles he needed fresh air. Stiles really hadn't done that much to set Scott off. Maybe it's something with Allison and Stiles just happens to be the target of the chaos ready to ensue. He fought the urge to go after his best friend, knowing fully well the last time he did, he got nasty scratches across his chest and still to this day when Stiles' isn't wearing a shirt, Scott flinches at the scars left behind. The never-ending guilt that will always be on Scotts' shoulders.  
Stiles preoccupied himself since he didn't have to go in to work today. He was hoping that he and Scott could waste the afternoon away by playing some videogames but with Scott's grouchier-than-ever attitude really makes him mopey about staying indoors. He picked himself up from his spot on the couch and walked towards the guest room. He was ready to get his own place and since he had set up an appointment for later in the afternoon, he might as well start getting ready. He took a shower and changed into clean clothes and walked out to find Scott sitting at the table, munching on a cereal bar.  
"Hey man, I'm going to go look at the condo downtown. You want to come?" Scott saw Stiles mull things over in his head and finally nodded.  
"Sorry about earlier. Just... A lot of things going on in my head." Stiles couldn't blame him after the baby boom Allison dropped on him.  
"It's all good. I've dealt with worse." Scott frowns but gets up and heads towards his bedroom, Stiles presumed was to get dressed. Scott returned not only three minutes later with a different set of jeans and a plain white shirt. He grabbed his baseball cap and slipped it onto his head.  
"Ready bud?" Stiles asked as he neared the door.  
"Yeah, I can't believe you want to leave me already." Stiles huffed out a laughed and patted Scott on the back as he exited out the door.

^

The tour of the house was uneventful and Stiles found himself signing the dotted line by the end of it. He really did like the place and the area and it wasn't far from his job. They hoped back into his jeep and were about fifteen minutes into the drive when his car started to breakdown.  
"No. No baby. Come on girl. You got this." He cooed as he petted the dashboard of his now sputtering jeep. He managed to pull the car over to the side of the road before it completely died. Stiles slammed his hand onto the dashboard and muttered a few swears under his breath.  
"I'm surprised this car even lasted more than a year, let alone seven." Scott said from the passenger seat.  
"How dare you question the ability of my beauty. She's just having a rough day. I need to call a tow truck." He reached for his phone and realized it was completely dead. Why didn't he charge it last night!? He looked over at Scott.  
"Left my phone at home. Sorry." Stiles sighed heavily and looked out Scott's window. They were parked outside a large house. He might as well go and knock and see if anyone in their is willing to let the less fortunate use their phone. He hopped out without a word to Scott and walked towards the door. He coughed into his hand awkwardly before knocking on the door. He was rocking back and forth on his heels when he heard the sound of footsteps coming closer to the door. The door flung open then and Stiles was greeted with a very shirtless Derek. Stiles prayed to whatever higher power there was above that his groan didn't escape his lips. Derek tilted his head to the side in surprise at who was standing outside.  
"Stiles?"  
"Uh... If I had known this was your house, I wouldn't have knocked." Stiles rushed everything out as his hands flailed in front of him.  
"Now is not a good time but you're wel-"  
"I just need to use your phone," Stiles cut in, "My car just died on me and Scott and I are just trying to get home." He shoved his hands into his pocket as Derek looked behind Stiles to confirm what he just said.  
"Scott."  
"Uh yeah, Scott's in there." Stiles turned around to find Scott literally five feet away from him and no, he did not let out a squeak.  
"Jesus Scott! A little heads up!" Scott smirked and looked at Derek.  
"Isaac's here?" Stiles turned back to Derek with an eyebrow up in question. Derek briefly looked at him before answering Scott's question.  
"Yeah, he doesn't know how to control it. I'm teaching him how although so far, no luck."  
"Mind if I see him?" Derek rose his bushy eyebrows up but side stepped to let Scott in. Stiles awkwardly stood by the entrance of Derek's home.  
"Come in, you have to make a call or two remember?" Stiles rubbed the back of his neck and entered Derek's home. He had some sort of weird fantasy where Derek would be totally into interior designing but alas, it's as barren as the hole in Stiles' heart.  
"Follow me Scott." Derek walked off and down a hallway with Scott tailing behind him. Stiles was looking around the house when a jiggling sound caught his attention. He looked down to find a limpy Zeus heading towards him - tail wagging happily at the sight of new person. He bent down then Zeus happily lapped at his fingers and face while Stiles praised him with affection. Stiles heard a cough and he opened his eyes (which were momentarily closed appreciating the love he was receiving) to a still shirtless Derek.  
"Sorry about that. Zeus is overly happy."  
"Much like his owner." Stiles words came out heavily filled with sarcasm. You think he would of fixed that brain-to-mouth filter by now, but nope, never will. It's a burden really.  
Derek just eyed him and walked into the kitchen. He pulled out two beers from his refrigerator and popped the caps off and handed one to Stiles. Stiles took it just so he could do something with his hands. He walked over to the aisle after leaving Zeus. He took a swig of his beer and let the flavors explode in his mouth. Derek just looked down or anywhere else except for Stiles' direction. Stiles took this as a great opportunity to look around the kitchen since he hadn't gotten a chance to. His eyes stray over to the fridge where pictures were tacked onto it. Pictures of Derek and of people Stiles assumed were friends of Derek and then there was a strip of pictures with Derek and the guy he ran into at his work. The pictures seemed innocent enough and the last one was of the mystery man and Derek kissing.  
Guess Stiles was staring too long at the picture because he found Derek looking between the picture and Stiles face, making Stiles clear his throat and finish off the last bit of his beer.  
"Stiles..."  
"The ph-phone. Uh. I would like to use it." Derek looks at him in a pained way and Stiles flinches away from the stare.  
"It's over by the door." Stiles hadn't even noticed but nods his thanks anyways and walks back towards the door - his legs almost giving way at the stare he knows he was receiving from Derek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me six tries before I actually liked this one. Next chapter on Monday.


	5. Common Sense

The tow truck company Stiles called not only said they would pick up the car for a reasonably cheap price, but it wouldn't be until much later and Stiles knew Scott would be completely annoyed by that. He bit his bottom lip, trying to think of ways to explain this to Scott. He could always call a cab and tell Scott to just go home but that meant he was alone with two werewolves, one of which, he did not want to be around. He awkwardly waited by the entrance of the door, not sure what to do. He guesses that someone must have sense his discomfort cause seconds later, feet shuffling came from the hallway. Of course it was Derek. At least he had the decency to put a shirt on.  
"Is everything alright?"  
"Just peachy!" Stiles squeaks out and closes his eyes in disgust at how betraying his voice can be.  
"You, uh, you feel weird." Stiles peeps out at him from under his eyelashes and Derek just refuses to look his way.  
"Wow Derek, I totally forgot about your ability to sense my aura. Thanks for the reminder." Derek looks up at him and blinks a couple of times before shoving his hands into his sweat pockets.  
"Is there anything I can do?" Stiles wasn't expecting the honesty of his words but he still refuses to cave in.  
"Humor me and tell me you have another room to hide me in because Scott's going to kill me once he finds out the tow truck isn't coming until later." The words come jumbled out of Stiles like word vomit and he finds himself feeling overly hot all of a sudden. Oh he's blushing. Geez. Derek watches him for a bit and Stiles is starting to get the feeling that his stay is about to be revoked. Derek surprises him by just walking into the kitchen.  
"Scott is busy helping out with Isaac so I'm guessing he's the one needing to apologize." Stiles huffs out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and he shoved his hands into his pocket.  
"Take a seat if you want. I'm going to start dinner." Stiles eyes the clock on the wall and realizes it is now four-thirty and that means Derek must be heading for a late night shift. He contemplates going into the kitchen but just takes his orders and takes a seat at the table.  
"Please tell us if we're being a burden. We'll leave the second you get insanely sick of us." Stiles notices how Derek's shoulders tense up but doesn't respond for a while.  
"You guys are fine and doing me both a favor."  
"How so?" Stiles is intrigued.  
"Scott is doing a much better job than I was with Isaac and you're going to peel the yams for me." Stiles eyebrow rose in question at Derek's back but soon Derek held up the peeler. Stiles nearly kisses the floor because he flies out of his chair so fast, he swears the room started spinning. Derek's eyebrows knit together in concern but doesn't voice it. Stiles walks carefully over and plucks the peeler out of Derek's hands, careful not to touch said hands. He gets to work peeling the yams and nearly slices his finger off when Derek decides to hover behind him, breath barely skimming the skin behind Stiles' ear.  
"Put some cinnamon on them and then pop them into the oven." Derek places the cinnamon jar beside the already peeled yams and Stiles gulps at the proximity. Stiles thanks whoever is up there (yet again) for Scott coming out and Isaac trailing behind him, his unruly curls sticking to his sweat-sleeked face.  
"What is going on here?" Scott asks, a look Stiles can't place crossing his face.  
"I-" before Stiles could put his two cents in, Derek is interjecting.  
"I invited you both to stay for dinner." Derek shrugs and starts slathering up the steaks with sauce.  
"Oh? Thanks, I guess?" Scott takes a seat at the table and eyes Stiles. Stiles blushes and continues his quest with covering the yams with the right amount of Cinnamon.  
Dinner is finished in forty-five minutes and everyone is situated at the table. Stiles notices how Isaac's eyes never seem to stop glowing their blue color and Stiles has to remind himself - more than once - to stop staring. He knows how terrifying it was for Scott when he was getting used to being a werewolf so he knows how Isaac is feeling. He tends his mouth by savoring Derek's food and mother of Neptune, he can't help the muffled moan that escapes his lips. Stiles looks up to find Isaac and Scott engrossed in a deep conversation and Stiles peeps a glance over at Derek who is watching him with such an intense stare, Stiles almost passes out.  
He coughs and grabs his wine and sips it gingerly and curses Derek for his stupidly amazing cooking skills and taste in wine. After dinner - and Derek yelling at both Stiles and Scott to leave the dishes alone - a knock was heard at the door.  
"Must be the tow truck guys. I'll get it." Stiles walks towards the door and opens it only to find the guy he ran into the diner behind it.  
"Oh? Hey, I remember you." His smile is warm but his eyes are guarded, probably confused as to why a stranger just answered the door.  
"Sorry man, I'm being such a dick." He sidestepped and let the guy in. Honestly, if the pictures didn't dictate enough his role in Derek's life, him showing up now was just crystal clear how fast Derek moves on from the past.  
"Kyle?" Stiles turns on his heel and watches as Derek goes from very confused to anxious to suddenly angry - at Kyle.  
"Hey babe." Kyle says it without the faintest hint of love behind the simple word.  
"We need to talk." Derek crosses his arms over his chest and raises one of his eyebrows. And wow, that was so domestic of him, Stiles felt like he was going to get reprimanded.  
"Guess we do. Shall we do this away from your guests?" Kyle walked past Derek and, what Stiles' presumed, their bedroom. Derek raked over Stiles' features before finally caving and walking towards the direction  
It didn't take long before the yelling began and all the three remaining boys tried their best to not eavesdrop. Thankfully, he and Scott didn't get to face the aftermath of the yelling as a knocking on the door caught their attention and they basically all fought their way over to open it.  
It was the tow truck guys this time and Stiles signed papers quickly and shyly thanked Scott for paying the total for the Jeeps bill. Isaac called them a cab and they had to wait, yet again, for the arrival of the cab. What felt like hours, but alas were only minutes, Kyle reemerges from his room, rubbing his face. He had two suitcases in tow and a look of resentment replacing the smile he briefly showed Stiles. No one said anything as Kyle packed up a laptop into a carrier and left, without a single word to any of the boys as they stood helplessly. Derek walks out in his scrubs then, his face as blank as ever, not giving away anything as if the yelling were something all three boys manifested within their minds. Derek looks up at the clock then and huffs out a sigh.  
"I have to head out now, I assume the car is taken care of?" He puts on his lab-coat and quirks an eyebrow in question. Stiles finds himself nodding along to the vocal answer Scott is providing.  
"Good, well make yourself at home until the cab arrives. I won't be back until tomorrow Isaac." Stiles was about to question how he knew they called a cab but, duh, werewolf superpowers. Derek nods what must be a goodbye and walks out the door then, shoulders tense.

^

Stiles was surprisingly quiet the entire ride home and from his peripheral vision, he could see Scott sneak glances his way. He didn't look at his best friend in fear of what might slip out of his mouth so he just stares at the back of the drivers headrest. They made it home with little conversations between the driver and Scott. Stiles gave the man a twenty and mumbled a thanks and walked towards the door to go inside the building complex. When he enters, Scott is waiting for him by the foot of the couch.  
"Hey, are you okay?" Stiles kicks at the floor with a tip of his shoe.  
"I'm gonna go write for a bit, yeah?" He barely whispers to Scott before he quietly makes his way towards the guest bedroom. He searches around for his lucky journal. He finds it under the bed, probably when he fell asleep in the middle of writing something at four in the morning. He snatches it up and looks at the cover - a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He remembers the first time he received this notebook.

~

_Stiles sat perched upon Derek's island. He was swinging his bare feet back and forth, his head leaning on his shoulder as he watches Derek's back. He told Stiles he was going to get something and that he'll be back soon. Honestly, it just gave Stiles a perfect excuse to stare at Derek's bare back and nice ass. He hummed in content when Derek reemerges and comes towards Stiles, some sort of book in his hands._  
 _"What's that?" Stiles perks up in his seat and tries to hide the stupid smile on his face. He fails miserably and just lets it show. It matches perfectly with the grin Derek is sporting._  
 _"Got you something." He hands over a blue journal. It has beautiful embroidery decorating the cover and in the middle is some sort of crest._  
 _"It's the Fleur de Lis. It more or less represents the bonding of three things. It made me think of you." Stiles bushed and ran his fingertips over the embroidery. It's gold petals stand out compared to the blue field._  
 _"Why did you think of me when you saw this?" He said as he flipped through the blank pages, itching to start writing in it.  
"Well, like I said, it represents three bonds. Me, you, and forever." He whispered the last part and Stiles looked up in disbelief as Derek's eyes filled with a sort of want of forever._

~

He sighed heavily as he opened the book to a new page. He seriously needs to replace the book instead of adding more pages but he refuses to let go of that memory. Back when things were good. Great. Everything he hoped for. He flipped to a new page and stared at it for a minute before he connected his pen to the page.  
He wrote for over an hour, crossing out some verses and adding more lines. He looked down at his work and was pleased with the end result. 

_I'm drawing circles in the sand_  
 _so I'll know where to land_  
 _cause we're falling in a foreign aircraft_  
 _and we can't get out in time_

_I'm sorry dear if only we_  
 _had known the sensitivity_  
 _the case is closed before_  
 _we knew it we were out of time_

_I'm reliving the moment_  
 _when you said you're doing fine_  
 _all the while I'm imagining_  
 _the best days of my life gone by_

_and burning inside_  
 _burning inside_

_I'm pouring out the feeling of_  
 _Unsenseless doubt, you're scared of love_  
 _just one more dance with you_  
 _then I'll watch those minutes fly_

_say you wanted to take it further_  
 _please say you really tried_  
 _love is always a fiery dragon_  
 _who's turned its head to take my life_

_and burning inside_  
 _burning inside_  
 _burning inside_

_these roses bleed under my feet_  
 _but you've placed these steps for me_  
 _and our progress halts and fades away_  
 _for common sense_  
 _yes it's all for common sense_  
 _oh it's all for common sense_

He closed his book then and shut his eyes, hoping to dream of anything but what he wants and what he always wanted - Derek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update hopefully by the end of this week! Enjoy Teen Wolf tonight!


	6. Melting Interlude

"The girls are coming into town." Derek chokes on his drink as Boyd pulls out the seat in front of him and sits, a smug look on his face.  
After Derek collects himself, he finally speaks, "What do you mean?"  
"Well considering the fact that Erica and Sylvia are going to be due home soon, Laura and Cora have decided to tag along." Derek was ecstatic over the fact that his non-niece was going to be coming back but he was also pissed over the fact that his sisters were coming as well.  
"Why didn't Erica convince them that she really didn't need the extra company?" Boyd rolled his eyes as he began to unpack his midnight snack.  
"Because Erica loves making you suffer." Boyd shrugged as he bit into his apple.  
"Do you even remotely care for the safety of your two-year old? You know between the three of them, they all could possibly corrupt Xylia and take over the world?" Derek threw a waded up napkin to Boyd's chest. He laughed and reached for his Gatorade.  
"Probably, but good thing Sylvia takes over her father."  
"Yeah? Have you met him yet?" Boyd growls at Derek, his fangs revealing. Derek laughs then, clearly enjoying the fact that Boyd was back to his usual reserved self.

^

Stiles was completely beyond himself. He was online shopping for furniture on Ikea's website. Why was there so many choices for couches? Honestly, he was glad Allison was going to be arriving tomorrow - actually it was two in the morning so, today - to help Stiles pick things that coordinate together. He closed his laptop then and decided to call it a night. He was not going to stress about furniture and possibly induce a panic attack. 

^

Stiles woke up to the sound of voices bickering in the living room. He groaned and looked at his alarm clock, seeing it was close to noon. He rolled off his bed and opened the door to his room, allowing the bickering to enter. The voices belonged to two females and Stiles immediately smiled and headed towards the voices, clearly content with skipping the bathroom even though his urge to pee was nagging in the back of his mind. He rounded the corner and found Scott sat between Allison and Kate, Allison's aunt. Scott looked like he was in so much pain but then he saw Stiles and instantly sat up, his eyes widening like saucers.  
"Stiles?!" Kate squeaked, pushing out of her chair and rushing towards Stiles. She embraced him and pecked his cheek. She held him out an arms length away as her eyes raked over his features.  
"My, no one told me you were visiting." She glared back at Allison and Scott and they both looked away sheepishly.  
"That's cause I'm not, I'm going to be living here. Well actually in a condo across town. I mean it's still pretty close to here and also to my job and-" Kate covered one of her hands over Stiles mouth and chuckled.  
"And here I thought that you controlled that word vomit of yours." She pulled back her hand and Stiles smiled at her. He was always fond of her ever since he spilled his guts out to her about Derek. He had wanted to talk to Allison about it - seeing he couldn't talk to Scott - and only found Kate at the Argent household. She noticed his red eyes and blotchy face and immediately engulfed him in a bone-crunching hug. He later confessed to her about Derek and even explained the plan of leaving Beacon Hills behind. She nodded and promised never to tell anyone. Hell, she even planned on visiting Stiles in Australia and he had hugged her tighter and momentarily declared her his best friend even though they had an eleven-year age difference.  
"I think I'm just stupidly excited to see you is all." She winked at him and placed her arm around his shoulders. They walked back to Scott and Allison, who were currently ogling each other even though they've been together for nearly six years. Seriously, you would think they would cut it out by now. Kate and Stiles both exchanged looks and Kate pointed to the inside of her mouth, indicating the same feeling Stiles felt whenever Scott and Allison got overly cute. Remembering that they had guests, Allison smiled up at her aunt and then frowned at Stiles.  
"Stiles do you still need help looking for furniture?" Meaning that she wanted alone time with Scott and Stiles sighed.  
"Well I guess not. My favorite Argent can help me with that." He nudged his hip against Kate's and she laughed, squeezing his shoulder a bit.  
"What do you mean by favorite? I thought I was your favorite?" Her bottom lip jutted out in a pout and he feigned sadness before rolling his eyes.  
"You were my favorite until Scott claimed he was going to rip my balls out if I tried hugging you longer than five seconds anymore." As if on queue, Scott blushed and Allison pinched his arm.  
"Can you blame me?! You're you, and you looked like you liked Stiles more." Scott's puppy eyes reappeared and Allison smiled, all dimples showing.  
"That's because Stiles told me he was into other males before he told you." Scott looked from Allison's face to Stiles' completely thrown off.  
"What? Dude! You said I was the first to know!" Stiles took this as his cue to drag Kate into the room he was residing in.  
She chuckled and dumped herself on the bed, bouncing a bit as she adjusted herself into a more comfortable position.  
"Got yourself out of that one smoothly." She laughed when Stiles stuck his tongue out at her. He searched for clean clothes in his drawer and pulled out decent clothing (aka clothes that didn't smell or have stains on it). He raised an eyebrow in question and Kate rolled her eyes.  
"I have an older brother, remember? It's not like I haven't seen anything before." She shrugged and looked at her perfectly manicured fingernails.  
"Yes, but the small amount of dignity I have, would like to not be laughed at." Kate huffed out an annoyed breath and lied down into the bed, grabbing a pillow and shielding her eyes from Stiles naked body. It wasn't like he didn't have anything going for him, he just wanted one person to look at him naked, and said person doesn't want him anymore.  
"Alright done. Also, I'm not medusa, you didn't have to shield your eyes - just advert them from staring at all my goodies." Kate chuckled and stood up.  
"I can not believe you said 'goodies'. Come on, we have to go furniture shopping apparently." She wrapped an arm around the crook of where Stiles elbow meets his forearm and practically drags him out the door, out of the apartment, and onto the street. He won't vocally admit it, but he was more scared of the Argent females strengths than knowing about the supernatural world. But he won't admit that.

^

Derek groggily drove to the airport to pick up his sisters, Erica, and Xylia. He parked his car in front of the entrance of the Seattle-Tacoma International airport and got out the car to stand by the passenger door, so they could easily spot him. He was still dressed in his scrubs seeing as he left work only an hour ago. It was seven in the morning and he was trying really hard not to topple over on the spot. He would let one of his sisters drive because he did not think it would be safe to drive with the state he was currently in.  
He waited fifteen minutes and almost pulled out his phone when a little girl came bouncing towards him, wrapping herself around his legs. He light brown curls swung around her face a bit as she looked up to meet Derek's eyes. He practically melted at the sight and bent down, scooping up Xylia into his arms. For a two year old, she was overly joyed in the morning. She rested her head on his shoulder and he massaged her back languidly. She snuggled into him, rubbing her cheek into the crook of his neck and he swears he could probably die happily because Derek was the first person (and werewolf) that she ever marked with her scent. Erica almost forced her daughter to mark her and Derek scolded her, saying it was going to happen in dues time. Erica reported back stubbornly that Sylvia wasn't too keen on scent-marking anyone except for Derek. He had to hang up and laugh by himself because if Erica found out, she would murder him.  
"Hey baby girl, how's my favorite?"  
"Ouch Hale, you could at least give me some credit since I helped create 'your favorite'." Erica and his sisters came out the entrance then, clearly annoyed they had to carry their own bags and Derek wasn't really in the right position to help. Xylia clutched the back of his shirt into her little hands and Derek smiled at his sisters; his pack.  
"Looks like this one doesn't want to let me go. Cora, drive back home." He was not going to let Erica's crazy ass drive and he really wasn't in the mood to hear Laura's shitty taste in music. He hopped in the back, Xylia still clutching possessively to his shirt and neck. The girls grudgingly muttered comments his way but he simply ignore them. He was content with getting shit from his pack if it meant he could cuddle with Xylia.  
"Laura says you didn't give me attention like that when I was born."  
"That's because you figured out how to bite people before you learned how to talk." Erica shakes her head at Derek and Laura practically whines, probably recalling a few incidents where Cora got 'bite-happy'. Cora just smirks, clearly enjoying that she was independent at such a young age.

^

"Moonlight Festival? What is that?" Stiles says through a mouthful of spaghetti and meatballs. They were eating dinner in the living room amongst the boxes of things Stiles bought at Ikea, thanks to Kate's insisting.  
"First of all, disgusting sweetheart, secondly, it's exactly what its name is." Stiles rolls his eyes and picks up his cup of wine, sipping it gingerly.  
"Yeah, okay thanks Kate. Allison is my favorite again," Allison beams at Stiles, "but like seriously, what goes on there?" He slurps up some spaghetti and Scott follows his actions, they both fist-bump and Allison mutters something along the lines of 'why do I hang out with them' under her breath.  
"I am either way too old or severely surprised at lack of maturity because that was just gross boys. Anyways, it's a festival filled with lots of attractions, food, people. It's honestly fun and it honors some of the supernatural families here. Oh, and as a bonus, they have a private party for the adults. Everyone dresses in costumes." Kate smiles and finishes up her wine. Stiles nodded. Everyone ate their meals with conversations drifting from one subject to another.

^

"We are not dressing as the Romanian werewolves." He growled at Erica who rolled her eyes and shoved his costume in his face.  
"The hell we are! We are dressing the part and going to the after party. Deaton said he was more than happy to help out with Sylvia." The costume was simple enough. It was an all white, fitting suit. He had to wear the clerical collar because the first roman priest was a werewolf and of course, Derek was ever-so-graciously, given the part.  
"What the hell are you dressing as?"  
"A nun, duh." Derek couldn't help but outright laugh. Erica instantly wrapped her thin fingers around his throat, he continued laughing and pried her hand off.  
"That's classic. I will never get tired of your humor Erica." He got up off his couch and started heading towards his bedroom.  
"Asshole!" Erica called after him.  
"That's reserved for someone special!" He yelled back and didn't even hid the smug grin from his face as he could only imagine Erica groaning at his answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://weloveinterracial.tumblr.com/post/86545246251/www-weloveinterracial-tumblr-com
> 
> Not sure how to hyperlink something but that's little Sylvia :)  
> Sorry for the long wait, this is a short filler. I'll post another chapter up Thursday or Friday because i'll be gone for some time and don't want to leave you guys hanging for so long. Anyways, please enjoy!


	7. Chronicles of a Fallen Love

Stiles groaned as the blaring of his alarm woke him up. It was nine in the morning on Tuesday and he was due back at work today. He legs were currently entangled with Kate's since both of them decided it'd be a better idea to sleep on the couch than in his very comfortable bed. Kate groaned and shoved her foot right into his crotch. He gasped and fell onto the floor, his hands protecting his area.  
"Fuck you Kate." She sighed and turned around on the couch, her back to Stiles' face. He groaned and got up, totally leaving his phone there to piss Kate off. He went to the bedroom and then to the bathroom to freshen up before he had to leave for work. Unfortunately his car was still in the shop and he had to pick it up tomorrow. Kate graciously had told him she was more than happy to give him a ride to his job. After he was done getting ready, he walked over to Kate's sleeping form and shoved her shoulder, a bit harder than he intended. Kate's hand flew up and squeezed his wrist and he did not yelp. No, he really didn't.  
"Give a girl a warning next time."  
"Give a guy his circulation back." Kate released him and he clutched his wrist closer to his chest, trying to rub some feeling back into it.  
"Come on, I'm due at ten. We have to go." She grunted and got up, putting on her leather booties. She managed to fall asleep in her clothes she arrived in yesterday and still figured out a way to look like she just came out of a photo-shoot. Damn the Argent genes.

^

Derek was currently taking his sisters to the diner that Isaac works at. They were starving and Isaac had a fling last night so he didn't get to welcome the girls into town.  
They pulled into the dinner parking lot and ushered out, Xylia finally waking up and clearly hungry. They walked in and sat in the nearby booth. Derek peered over his menu and noticed Stiles leaning over the counter and talking to a blonde woman who was currently laughing at something Stiles said. Said blonde woman got up and leaned over the counter and gave Stiles a kiss on the cheek, which he blushed at before pushing a strand of a loose blonde curl behind her ear. She smacked him playfully on his arm and twirled around, bee-lining it for the exit. Derek noticed how Stiles watched her leave and if he was being quite honest with himself, he might have been momentarily _jealous_. Momentarily of course. Because Stiles is not his.  
Shelly appeared from the back and whispered something in Stiles ear. Stiles' gaze turned toward his table, a blush slowly creeping up his neck and onto his cheeks. He nodded at Shelly and briskly made his way over.  
"Hi, I'm Stiles and I'll be your waiter this morning." Derek noticed how the smile seemed a little too forced and he couldn't help but frown.  
"Wow Stiles, I haven't seen you in forever. How have you been?" Cora was smiling up at Stiles and he seemed to relax a bit.  
"I've been good Cora, it's nice to see you again. Now, can I start you off with some drinks?" He flipped open his notepad and uncapped the pen with his teeth. Derek had to look away and found Laura staring at him, an expression written across her face that he couldn't quite read.  
"I'll have some coffee, Derek probably will as well. As for my sister, I don't know." Stiles eyebrows rose in question because he only knew Derek to have one sister, not two. Goes to show how much Stiles really knew about Derek.  
"I'll have a raspberry tea." A dark haired girl said and Stiles nodded, figuring it had to be the other sister.  
"I'll take an orange juice." A blonde said and Stiles quickly scribbled 'OJ' onto his pad. He noticed a little girl looking up at him. Stiles could melt into those eyes a thousand times and still wouldn't get tired of looking at them. He bent down and got to eye level with her, glad she was closer to him so he could speak to her directly.  
"Now what can I get you Miss-"  
"Sylvia." The blonde one offered. He nodded at her in thanks and looked back at Sylvia who was staring at him.  
"Choco milk pwease." Stiles smiled brightly at her and stood up.  
"Good choice, it's my favorite here." He winked at Sylvia and walked towards the counter. He filled the cups up with their drinks and walked back towards the family.  
"Here are your drinks, do you need any more time ordering?" The blonde and brunette both nodded and Cora smiled at him. Derek was trying really hard not to stare at him.  
"So how did you end up here Stiles? The last time I saw you, you were a lanky junior barely being let on the field to play some lacrosse." Stiles sighed and pushed the pen behind his ear.  
"Yeah, I graduated and left town, obviously. I was traveling in a band and then I decided to settle down and save up some cash."  
"You're in a band?" Cora looked at him like she was seriously intrigued and Stiles gulped.  
"Uh yeah, we're not really big but we're known in smaller places." He shrugged and chewed at his bottom lip.  
"That's rad Stiles. College wasn't your thing?"  
"I took online classes and majored in Criminology. My dad was pretty proud." He shrugged again, feeling a bit uncomfortable.  
"You're the sheriff's son? Back in Beacon Hills?" Stiles looked at the brunette and she was eyeing him curiously.  
"Yeah. How did you know that?"  
"I was visiting my family in Beacon Hills and the sheriff came over for dinner and told everyone about his son studying criminology and finding himself around the world. Couldn't help but make the connection." Stiles nodded and peeked a glance at Derek who was currently staring at him and he fidgeted uncomfortably.  
"So, are we ready to order?" They all nodded and began to throw their orders around. Sylvia had ordered something basically the size of her head and Derek had frowned.  
"No. Why don't you have some pancakes instead of that monstrosity, huh?" He pulled the menu out of her little hands and she huffed.  
"Let her have whatever she wants."  
"If she doesn't finish it, I'll give the rest to Boyd."  
"Laura and Erica, don't encourage this." Stiles noticed how Derek had called the brunette, Laura and the blonde, Erica. They began to bicker after that and Derek had enough and flashed his red eyes at them. Stiles took a momentary step back and looked at Laura. She looked like a chicken who had her feathers ruffled and wasn't too keen on her brother proving his Alpha-ness in public. Erica - on the other hand - had shut up, but was glaring at Derek.  
"It's fine. I'll have Isaac make the order big enough for a tiny girl." He smiled down at Sylvia who blushed. Seriously, he could eat this girl up.  
"Thank you Stiles." Erica said, her eyes never leaving Derek's. He nodded and quickly walked towards the kitchen with his orders.  
"Isaac, the Hales are here. Oh and can you make the 'Sunday Slammer' proportionate to a little girl with a big appetite?" Isaac beamed at the surname and quickly got to filling the orders. Stiles went towards the front again to grab the orders of his other tables. He couldn't help but look at where the Hales and company were sitting. Laura's easy gaze met his and she smiled. He blushed and sped towards the kitchen to give his other orders to Isaac.  
With the food finished, he walked with both of his hands full to the table. He set down a tray on the clear table beside them and starting placing plates onto the table.  
"And this is your plate Sylvia. A girl's gotta eat." She giggled and clapped when he placed the decently sized meal in front of her.  
"Thank you." Stiles nearly dropped the trays he was holding as he met Derek's gaze. He really wasn't expecting Derek to say anything to him but then he remembered that this was his job and Derek was just being nice.  
"Call me if you need anything." Stiles didn't mean to stare at Derek when he said that. He totally didn't mean for it to come off as a double meaning. He was desperate, okay? Give a guy a break.

^

Derek was stuck with another night shift before he was off tomorrow for the Moonlight Festival. He was honestly looking forward to not being in the same house as his sisters. Especially with the way Laura has been looking at him ever since they left the diner. He had miraculously been saved - bless Xylia - from his sisters and took this opportunity to go hide in his room. He was still on the fence with Kyle after finding out he had slept over at an exes house, but he didn't want it to end. Kyle had explained to him that he was just looking for someone to listen to him. Derek understood but didn't suggest Kyle to come back and stay with him. He didn't want his sisters (Laura in particular), seeing Kyle. She wasn't too keen on Derek dating him to begin with so he just avoided that mess completely. He just wanted his life to get back to normal. But who was he kidding? He was Derek Hale. Life would never be easy on him.

^

"How did I get stuck with wearing a red suit?" He groaned and walked back into the living room to find a fiery-haired girl looking at him, her lips pursed as she scanned over Stiles' work attire.  
"Please, that would be an improvement to your outfit choices." Stiles rolled his eyes and wrapped her into a tight hug.  
"You suck! How is this a costume anyways?"  
"You're Satan, duh." She pecked his cheeks and strutted towards the couch.  
"Why?" He pouted and walked towards her.  
"Remember when we used to date and I told you red was my favorite color on you?" He blushed and rolled his eyes.  
"That's a thought I would like to forget considering you made me wear laced panties to bed once!" He huffed and sat on the couch of Scott's living room.  
"Stilinski, please don't remind me of the fact you used to be with my soon-to-be wife."  
"Aw, but we had amazing times in the bedroom. Care to share my oh-so-very-hot ex?" He waggled his eyebrows at Lydia who was gaping at him before reaching for a throw pillow and flinging it towards his face.  
"Disgusting, really." She turned around and stalked towards the guest room, Jason following close behind. He laughed and snuggled in the couch more.  
Scott walked in then, ending his shift from work early so he could get ready for the Moonlight Festival tonight. He and Allison were going as the Frankenstein's. Stiles tried not to choke himself to death once he found out they were matching.  
"Hey buddy. You missed Lydia and I talk about our bedroom fantasies when we were once _enamorado_." He knows he probably butchered the Spanish word for love but whatever, this was Stiles, who cares about correct pronunciation?  
" _Eh-nah-mo-rah-do_." Lydia stated as she came out the room again. Oh course, Lydia would care. Go figure.  
"Whatever. Would you like to tell Scott what you liked in bed?"  
"I'm giving you one chance for you to shut the hell up Stilinski." She practically hissed at him and Stiles gulped and got up off the couch, just in case she wanted to spring in action.  
"Joking!" He threw his hands up in surrender and she nodded in content.  
"Do I really want to pursue this?" Scott asked as Stiles shook his head no and Lydia voiced it.  
"Good because we have 3 hours until the festival and we should start getting ready now before Allison gets mad." Also known as Allison not talking to Scott and Scott looking like a kicked puppy all night. It's happened before. Stiles is convinced Allison wears the pants in the relationship.  
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Gives Jason and I some time to grab something to eat beforehand."  
Scott nodded and walked towards his room, intent on getting started before Allison comes home.  
As if on queue, the front door swings open and Allison and Kate waltz in, bags decorating their arms. Jason was much more of a gentleman than Stiles was because he immediately went over to help out while Stiles took a seat on a stool (the furthest away from Lydia).  
"Stiles, please don't break your neck helping us. Really, I'm concerned with how quick you moved." Kate huffed out as she placed the bags onto the counter. Lydia giggled and started unpacking the groceries Kate had brought in.  
"I'm still recovering from almost loosing feeling to my hand forever." He pouted as Kate walked closer. He was clutching his hand to his chest for dramatic effect as well.  
"Yeah? Let me see it." Before he could respond, Kate reached for his wrist and bent it again like she did the day before and Stiles yelped in surprise.  
"Fine! I'll help! Jesus!" He got up and scurried away from the smirk on Kate's face to help Lydia unpack.  
"These Argent's are starting to think they can boss everyone around." Stiles muttered to Lydia who quickly placed her hand over her mouth to cover her laugh.  
"These 'Argent's' know how to use weapons and are happy to use one on doofuses like you." Allison whispered in his ear and this time, Lydia didn't hold back the laugh, almost loosing the milk in the process. Stiles clutched his chest because Allison could be dangerously creepy when she was in stealth mode.

^

Derek was in the passenger seat of Boyd's SUV as they headed towards the festival, half an hour later than they should be thanks to Erica and Laura. They hogged both bathrooms up and complained whenever someone asked to used the bathroom. Thankfully Cora was like Derek and got things done on time.  
"And we're here." Boyd announced as he parked further away considering there was already an array of parked cars. Derek flung out the car and opened the door to the backseats where the girls were sitting.  
"Never knew my brother to be a gentleman." Laura said as she stepped out.  
"The faster I get you out, the less time we spend together." He smiled cheekily at her and Laura stuck her tongue out at him. Cora climbed out next, followed by Erica who pushed past him and went straight for Boyd. She was still upset at Derek for proving his Alpha-ness in front of her but he really couldn't give a damn.  
"Let's go." They walked towards the commotion of shrieks and games so they can actually start having fun. It was getting closer to ten-thirty and there were rare sightings of kids since the after party was starting soon. Derek loved being around kids but when he got the chance to get away, well, he wasn't one to complain.  
"After party starts at eleven, so why don't we grab some beers beforehand?" Cora suggested as she headed towards a booth, already deciding they were going to drink before the party. No one really objected though.

^

Stiles stood by Scott as he sipped on a drink called 'The Black Widow Martini'. He snorted at the drinks name but still bought it anyways, it was delicious and Stiles was a sucker for girly drinks. He was nodding his head along to a techno song by The Bloody Beetroots. He was having a good time in the dim lit dance floor. One more Martini though, and he might be taking an advocate home. Preferably one that was dark haired with fair eyes. He drowned his drink and draped his arm around Scott.  
"I'm gonna go get another!" His words were slightly slurred but Scott nodded anyways, calling into his ear to bring him something back. Stiles beamed and pushed through the crowd towards the bar. He stood beside a man in a white suit. He hollered out his orders as the music thumped in his veins. He looked towards the guy in the white suit and his eyes widen immensely. He must of guessed that the white suited man turned to look at him and tension was instantly set on his shoulders.  
"Derek." Stiles barely said but Derek was staring at him.  
"Stiles, what are you doing here?"  
"I should be asking you instead. Last time I checked, festivals weren't your thing. Oh wait, I seem to recall I barely know anything about you. How's the sister I never met?" Stiles snapped as his drink was placed in front of him.  
"I didn't introduce you because I'm pretty sure you guys would get along and then I was stuck with two people who were scarily smart." Stiles huffed and drowned his martini in a single gulp. He felt the alcohol run through him warmly and he smiled. He looked over at Derek. Derek was staring at him and Stiles couldn't fight the urge any longer.  
He leaned over and kissed Derek. He tried to mold his mouth against Derek but stopped once the action wasn't reciprocated. He pulled back and looked at Derek, who's eyes barely held any green in them since his pupils had expanded tremendously.  
"Stiles. I'm still with Kyle." Stiles was momentarily shocked and then quickly recovered himself. He briefly smiled at Derek before walking towards the exit of the building. Scott appeared out of nowhere, his brows furrowed and his brown eyes looked sad. Stiles couldn't do it. He pushed past Scott and immediately was hit with the crisp night. He didn't bother to check where he was going. He was so fed up with having these high hopes of starting something with Derek that he didn't see the car flying towards him. The shrieking tires and the night surrounding Stiles as darkness clouded his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on the blog below because I made a separate blog just for stories and edits and I'll keep you updated on the status of this story. Please feel free to leave me messages there if your little heart desires!  
> [Blog](witheredpen.tumblr.com)


	8. You Said Okay

Everything was so unbearably bright, it took Stiles half a second to realize where he was. He hated hospitals. They always reminded him of Beacon Hills and everything he used to fight for. He had his fair share of having to spend a few nights in one as well. He groaned and shut his eyes again, shielding away the light emitting from above him.  
"Hey, he's up!" He heard a voice call from somewhere inside the room. Scott, he thinks. He tries to tell him to shut up but there's so much pain, he couldn't even lift a finger. A rush of footsteps approach his bed and papers were being looked through. He wanted to open his eyes again but decided against it.  
"Leave Scott." Another man's voice said. Derek. Stiles really wants to tell Scott to stay.  
"No way!"  
"At least go wait with your friends outside while I talk to him? I promise I'll bring you right back in." Stiles could hear a pin drop with how quiet the room has gotten. Alpha's and their stupid need to be stubborn. He heard the curtain being pushed aside but still hasn't opened his eyes yet.  
"I know you're awake Stiles. Come on, open your eyes." Derek's voice was soft and Stiles found himself opening his eyes slowly.  
"Hurts" He croaks out. He regrets it immediately because his throat starts burning.  
"Here, have some water." Derek grabs a cup and fills it with water from the sink before handing it to Stiles. He takes it greedily and chugs it down.  
"Slow down, small sips." Stiles tried not to whimper at how fragile Derek was treating him. Any other day he could take it, but not now, not when he's in a hospital bed accompanied by a horrible gown.  
"Wha-"  
"You ran onto the street and a drunk driver hit you. Your heads concussed and you got a few lacerations." Derek wasn't looking at Stiles but behind him, like he didn't like seeing Stiles in this state. It made his heart ache all over again.  
"Explains why bright lights hurt. I'll dim them down so you can open your eyes properly." Stiles only hummed in response at Derek. The room got darker and Stiles finally could open his eyes. Derek reappeared at his side and sat by him. His green eyes sparkled even in the dark and thank god Stiles body wasn't responding properly or else he was going to reach over and stroke Derek's face.  
He was so close and staring own at Stiles' lips that Stiles only gasped with how much tension was building around them. Whatever Stiles thought was going to happen, it never came.  
Derek licked his own chapped lips, straightened himself, and grabbed the clipboard Stiles assumed was everything about him.  
"Your vital signs have shown a huge improvement Mr. Stilinski. We stitched you up so you're ready to go when the light doesn't hurt you as much. Just.."  
"Just what?" Stiles bit back. All he wanted to do was dig his own grave and lie in it. It wasn't like he hasn't been doing it for years now.  
"Watch where you're going next time, okay?" Derek retorted. He sounded so old then. Stiles refused to look at him anymore.  
As if on queue, Scott came back in, peering between the two of them. Derek gave him a short nod and left, without even glancing back at Stiles. Scott was looking at Stiles with sympathy and Stiles allowed it this time. He wasn't in any condition to argue.  
"Everything alright?"  
"Like you didn't hear." Stiles didn't mean for it to come out harsh but Scott looked wounded for a bit before he sat at the edge of the gurney.  
"You know he's a surgeon?" Stiles raised an eyebrow at Scott.  
"So?"  
"So that means he only specializes in surgery. Not everyday things." Scott shrugged like it was the most obvious answer in the world.  
"Maybe he felt guilty considering it was his fault any of this happened." Stiles huffed out a breath of anger, shutting his eyes again.  
"Maybe," Scott said. Stiles really just wanted to sleep.

^

He was in the hospital for two days. He didn't even realize it until he was let out and Shelly was outside in the waiting room with flowers. She had scolded him through teary eyes and told him to at least take the rest of the week off. He loved her a lot, okay?  
He was currently in his new condo. Thanks to mystery overs who had ordered all his stuff for him and placed it in his new home. When Stiles was going to bring it up, Scott and Isaac looked equally confused to find the whole house furnished. He really didn't want to think about who knows he lives here.  
He was sprawled onto his new bed, hearing an audio reading of one of the new books Kate had bought him. His eyes still hurt if they tried to focus too hard on something so he was limited to a lot of things. Scott currently took habit of his sofa that could be turned into a bed. He was pretty sure Allison was out there with him but they were thankfully quiet.  
It wasn't until two in the afternoon that Stiles heard any noise. Things in his kitchen were being either thrown around or Scott was trying to cook. He groaned and dragged his drugged out body and mind out the bed towards the noise.  
"Hi, hello, yes, I am dead and you're making noises." He said as soon as he was closer for both Allison and Scott to hear. Allison immediately walked over to him and dragged him towards the sofa to sit. She was going to make an awesome mom.  
"Sorry, I thought I would make homemade food for you." Scott said as he held pans in each hand.  
"You're lucky you're my best friend ever." Stiles mumbled because he was currently being snuggled to death by Allison.  
"Shh. Scott can go out and grab us something to eat and I'll take care of you in the meantime." He heard Scott grab his keys and the door open and close when he peered up to find Allison giving him her best dimple smile. It was mostly reserved for Scott but sometimes he had the pleasure of receiving it as well.  
"Want to watch some television?"  
"You can put it on but I won't be able to concentrate for long." Allison nodded and turned on the television. He was just closing his eyes when Allison reached over and squeezed his hand.  
"Hmm?"  
"Scott says the place was furnished when he got here."  
"Yeah, it was. It was weird." He heard Allison click her tongue and suddenly the couch was a lot lighter because she had gotten up to get something. She came back again and the couch dipped in and Stiles snuggled closer to her warmth. She ran her fingers through his hair before slipping an envelope into his hands.  
"Think you have enough willpower to read it? I found it taped behind the television. Scott didn't even notice. I hid it from him." Stiles opened his eyes and looked at the envelope where his name was written in cursive in the center. He sat up straighter and kept some distance between Allison and he as he began to open it.  
 _Because he doesn't know how to say he's sorry without making strangled noises. Hope you like it._  
Suddenly the paper felt like it was set on fire, Stiles crumpled it up and tossed it onto the floor. Allison arched an eyebrow and leaned over to pick up the note.  
"Please don't read it, can you just throw it away?" Allison nodded and grabbed the crumple paper and tore it a bit before throwing it away in the trash. God, she was an angel.  
"C'mere." She made grabby hands for him and engulfed him in one of her famous 'Allison-understands-maybe-you'll-feel-better-with-this' hugs.

^

Derek decides this has been one of the most chaotic weeks of his life. He has endured his fair share of bad days at the hospital but when it involved Stiles, it was like he couldn't remember what a scalpel was to a hammer. He overheard Isaac talking to Scott about Stiles' new condo so he decided that if he bought the furniture, he would be even and some guilt would lift off. He was wrong of course. He had to get Laura to help him figure out the wishlist Stiles set up and buy it for him. It dented him a bit, but he figured for Stiles, it was worth it.  
So here he is, a few days later, with this overwhelming guilt sitting on his shoulders. He's pretty sure if his face doesn't give off how anxious he's been these past few days, his mishaps probably did.  
"Call him." Laura says as she drags one of the plastic cafeteria chairs out from under the table. He scoffs and tries to remember when he called her to have lunch with him.  
"You make it sound so easy." Derek practically whines and Laura smirks.  
"Because it is Bear. You feel bad. I can smell it all over you, it's a little disgusting." She scrunches up her nose as she picks on her carrots.  
"We have history Laury," Maybe calling her the nickname would emphasis his point, " _history_. I've screwed up already." She contemplates him for a bit before putting her carrot down.  
"You are serious about this." She searches his eyes and pursues her lips. "Okay, so what I'm saying is, try to talk to him. I'm assuming he's hurting, and not in the physical sense. He might be hurting from a few years. Don't even give me that look. I know this has been going on for longer than you want me to believe because those feelings you both have, those don't come out of nowhere."  
Derek sighed in frustration.  
"I can't Laura."  
"Why not?"  
'Because I can't."  
"Because you're too much of a coward?"  
"Because I have someone!" Laura inhales deeply before continuing.  
"Because you don't want it to lead anywhere since you can't give anything back." Derek nods solemnly. He looks up to find his sister giving him a small smile.  
"Well Bear, guess I have to meet this special someone." Derek groaned. He knew that was coming.

^

"Laura, no. You're a horrible cook." Boyd said from his spot on the couch. Sylvia was playing with his keys and making happy noises when they hit Boyd in the face.  
"Shut up Vernon." Boyd growled and Sylvia made an unimpressed face. Laura giggled and reached for the chicken.  
"I got this." Derek snatched the chicken out of her hand and began unwrapping it. He was in a bitter mode because Laura had pestered him to invite Kyle over.  
"I've never seen you in a better mood brother of mine." Cora teased as she made for the rice. She was good with helping out when Derek got like this.  
He huffed and began chopping up the chicken. He was making his mom's famous Thai Chicken sauté. It was easy and he had gotten pretty good at making it. He called Isaac earlier to tell him about dinner but Isaac said he had other plans. Plans that Derek knew involved seeing how Stiles was because Derek couldn't.  
"When is he coming over?" Cora asked as she tested out the water for the rice. Laura had made her way towards Sylvia and Boyd. Boyd gave her an annoyed look but Sylvia squealed in delight at someone else to hit her keys with.  
"In an hour, so this has to be done by then. Boyd, bring in Zeus." Boyd got up and headed for the backyard, Sylvia hard on his heel. Derek smiled as Sylvia pushed her way between Boyd's legs and made for Zeus who happily greeted her with slobbering kisses.  
"You want it to be done so Laura doesn't ask him awkward questions right?"  
"Yes." He hissed as he put the chicken onto the pan.  
"Heard that. Still going to ask him questions." She picked up a cherry tomato and popped it into her mouth. Cora gave her a disgusted look.  
"How long now?"  
"Forty-five minutes."  
"Cool." She left towards the guest room or wherever Erica was currently sleeping in. Good, Derek thought, without one of his sisters there, he could actually concentrate.

^

Dinner was going by as any dinner with the Hales should go - bad. Cora almost burned the rice. Derek accidentally nipped Kyle's lip a little harder than intended. Laura had her bitch face on the second she laid eyes on Kyle. Sylvia was whining about the food. It was going so bad, Derek thought it was actually comical.  
"So Kyle," Laura began, Derek knew this was bad, "what's your occupation?"  
"I'm a night guard at one of the airports two hours from here." He stuffed the Thai chicken into his mouth and Derek smirked.  
"Oh. So I guess you live close to your job." Laura made for her cup of wine. Sylvia dropped her juice down her shirt then and it caused a bit of a commotion before Erica excused herself and went to go change Sylvia.  
"How long have you and Derek been dating?" Forgetting where she was previously going with her last question, Laura egged on. Derek groaned.  
"Three years."  
"Interesting." She doesn't say it to Kyle, but to Derek.  
"You live close by?"  
"Actually I-"  
"He lives here with me." Derek interrupted. Kyle visibly relaxed.  
"Doesn't seem like it." Derek knew she meant the place didn't smell like him. Hell, _he_ knew the place never smelt like Kyle. That's the reason why he always felt lonely coming back home.  
"I think that's enough of the interrogation Laura." Cora chimed in. Derek was going to spoil her.  
"It's not an interrogation. I'm just finding out about a boyfriend my brother kept secret for three years. I visit often Kyle, Derek tell you that?" Kyle shook his head and grabbed for his wine. Derek was about to follow suit when Laura piped up, "It's weird. It's like he's ashamed of having you as a boyfriend." Derek choked on air as Kyle froze, halfway to his drink.  
"Laura. Enough." Cora said. The air in the room became tense and Derek tried not to think about it.  
"What, all I'm saying is, if Derek got his head out of his ass, he'd finally see what he really wants."  
"Right. I should go." Kyle got up and headed towards the door. Derek flashed his eyes at his sister who jumped in surprise. Good.  
"Kyle wait!" Kyle was already opening the door of his car but stopped.  
"I'm sorry. She's just being overprotective of me."  
"She's right, though. How come I haven't met your family?"  
"Kyle, you were always working. And she came during those weeks you had to basically live at your job."  
"That's no excuse." Derek was about to protest when a whiff of something like Axe hit his nose. He looked at Kyle who was eyeing him curiously.  
"You've been with someone?" He took a step back and Kyle made a confused face.  
"What are you talking about?"  
"There's a mark on your neck."  
"Something fell on me."  
"Bullshit." Kyle looked torn before his shoulders slumped.  
"Alright, so I have. But can you blame me Derek? You've been so caught up in your fucking job these last few months, I had to take care of my needs."  
"Woah, what? This has been going on for months? What... You don't work at as a night guard." Realization dawned on Derek and all he saw was red.  
"Not for a few months."  
"Don't come back." Derek said as he headed towards the door. He should have known that in a house full of werewolves, someone was bound to eavesdrop.  
"Oh Derek, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm so stupid?"  
"You? God, I was living with him. Laura, I was planning my future with him! No, I'm the stupid one." He went to his room to sulk alone. Except that lasted about two minutes before everyone clambered onto his bed into a big puppy pile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT OTHERS MAKE ME REALLY HAPPY  
> Also, let the shitstorms dwindle so our Sterek can rise!


	9. Desperate Measures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nice little filler because major stuff goes down soon ;)
> 
> PS - y'all are lovely.

Stiles had banished Scott and Allison from his apartment. They were hovering over him and acting like he wasn't competent enough to operate a microwave (although Lydia would say otherwise). He told Scott to get his ass to work and for Allison to pry Kate off of his side to go out for a girls night out in the city. He had bought some indie vampire movies and called Isaac over because Isaac was a closet indie-freak. If he's being honest with himself, he kind of misses Isaac's constant eye rolls whenever gravity screwed Stiles over and he tripped over nothing.   
Before their third movie, _Only Lovers Left Alive_ , Isaac crowded into Stiles personal space to get comfortable. Stiles found out Isaac was a big puppy when it came to snuggling. He would invade any space you claimed yours and demand head rubs. That being said, he was currently lying on Stiles, his head in his lap while Stiles carded his fingers through his curls. Isaac was uncomfortably close to Stiles crotch and he had to slightly rearrange himself whenever Isaac got too close. Isaac was ruthless though. He moved and snuggled his head deeper, causing a slight problem in Stiles' lower region.   
"Mmm, you smell nice." Isaac said as Stiles bit his lip harder as Isaac moved his head closer to his crotch again.  
"You don't say?" Stiles huffed out a shaky laugh and Isaac sat up.  
"Like arousal." Stiles blushed and tried to cover up his problem as discreetly as possible.  
"It's sort of your fault. With your head smushing next to my crotch and all that." Stiles flailed his hands around and tried not to look at Isaac.  
Isaac regarded him for a minute before pulling Stiles onto his lap. Stiles yelped at the sudden manhandling, but shut his mouth up when Isaac looked at him with his soft blue eyes.  
"I'm not going to like, suck you off or anything cause I'm straight, but we can make-out though."  
"Doesn't that make you slightly not straight since you're making out with me? Hello, a boy with a growing problem in his pants." Isaac shrugged and leaned close, giving Stiles enough space to back out if he wanted too.   
"Like, oh wow, yeah we're doing this cause-" Isaac pulled back and lifted an eyebrow at Stiles sudden nerves that came off him in waves.  
"Stiles?" Stiles hummed in reply, his eyes glazing over with want.  
"Shut up?"  
"I can do that." Stiles leaned in and cupped Isaac's face in his hands. He sucked in Isaac's bottom lip and moaned into his open mouth when Isaac's hands snaked his way towards his ass and gave a gentle squeeze. Isaac took this as his queue to let his tongue gain access to Stiles' mouth. Moan after moan came out of Stiles and Isaac really wasn't helping except to encourage Stiles to roll his hips down repeatedly.  
Isaac pushed Stiles onto the couch so he could get better access at Stiles' throat. He licked a strip from his collarbones all the way back to Stiles' panting mouth, capturing those little huffs of breaths Stiles was letting out. He grounded his hips while Stiles hooked a leg around his backside, pushing him harder into him. They were both getting pretty worked up when a knock was heard on the door. 

^

Derek had finally freed himself from the confines of the puppy pile that was scattered around his bed. He needed to go talk to someone who wasn't going to judge him so vocally. He needed Isaac.   
He walked out the house and towards his Range Rover. He knew it would probably be an awkward encounter since it was Stiles' place. Hell, he half expects Stiles to yell at him to leave. He decides it would be alright even if that means he could briefly see Stiles.

^

"Well, are you going to get it?" Stiles says from underneath Isaac. His curls were sticking out from random places, his cheeks flushed, and his eyes looked wider than normal. If Isaac looks like that, Stiles knows he's wrecked.   
Isaac nodded and slid out the hand that was teasing Stiles' nipples from under his shirt. Stiles tried not to whine at the lost contact. Isaac was halfway towards the door when Stiles saw him visibly tense up. Stiles sat up, not bothering to fix his persona as Isaac opened the door wider, revealing someone Stiles never thought to see at his front door.  
Derek looked past Isaac to a startled Stiles. His lips were especially plumped and his hair was a mess. In fact, Isaac wasn't in a better condition when Derek gave him a fleeting glance. It took the smell about three seconds to finally settle in what was going on between the two of them. A growl erupted from Derek and he lunged at Isaac. He swears he heard Stiles yell a swear word before hands were gripping at his shoulders, seizing him from strangling Isaac. He snarled one last time at Isaac before Isaac looked between Stiles and Derek.   
"Go Isaac." Stiles voice sounded so small but Derek refused to take his glare away from Isaac. He left without another word and Stiles loosened his grip on Derek's shoulders.  
"What the fuck was that?" Stiles said as he crouched down next to Derek. He didn't seem upset, just really worried. Derek wish he had more control of situations like Stiles.  
He shrugged in response and reached out to fix Stiles' shirt, where his collarbones were all too enticing to stare at. Stiles sighed and sat criss crossed on the floor.   
"Is Isaac.. Is he your..." Derek couldn't even finish what he was getting at. Stiles laughed lightly before rolling his eyes.   
"No. He was just helping me out... With stuff." Blushed crept its way onto his cheeks but he didn't turn away.  
"Sorry."  
"You have the worst timing." There was something hidden in the words Stiles used and a little hope sparked inside Derek.  
"I know." Stiles smiled at him fondly before remembering who he was talking to and his face dropped a bit.  
"Why are you here?" Right, Derek needed to talk to Isaac about Kyle.  
"Came to see if you liked the new furniture." A white lie, but Stiles didn't need to know.  
"You're terrible with words."  
"I'm terrible with people." Stiles laughed again and it was like music to Derek's ears. It made for the events that happened earlier, disappear from his mind. It all soon set in that Stiles wasn't his and he wasn't laughing at Derek's dry humor, he was laughing with the honesty meant with his words.  
"Thank you though." Derek nodded and Stiles stood, walking towards the door, indicating Derek's time was up. He tried not to frown walking past Stiles. He turned on his heel at the door and shoved his hands in his pocket. Stiles was biting his lip and scratching the back of his head.  
"My neighbors are going to think I throw orgies or I'm a swinger." Derek huffed out a laugh.  
"Want me to tell them otherwise?" Stiles rolled his eyes and started closing the door.  
"Goodnight Derek." The door was closed before Derek even had a chance to say anything.  
"Goodnight Stiles." Didn't stop him from saying it to the door though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean, why would anything be good right? This was so angsty and a bunch of sexual tension being relieved.


	10. Even My Dad Does Sometimes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun filter.

Stiles awoke to the sounds of loud honks and birds chirping rather closely to his window. He groaned and sat up on his bed, rubbing away at his tired eyes. Last nights events came to him and he huffed out a breath in frustration. Why was Derek so angry with Isaac? But most importantly, why was Derek acting like he was friends with Stiles? Like he didn't rip his heart out and (metaphorically) stomped on it right in front of Stiles' face. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to decipher Derek's weirdness.  
A knock sounded throughout the condo and he begrudgingly got up, wrapping his blanket around him and dragging it towards the door. He glanced at the clock in his kitchen and noticed it was a little past ten in the morning. Who was here so early? He opened the door to reveal his dad, a Tilikum bag in his hand.  
"Dad?" His dad stepped in and wrapped his free arm around Stiles' neck and dragged him into his bone-crunching hugs.  
"Nice to see you awake and well, son." He walked into the apartment and nodded at all the furniture.  
"I thought you didn't buy furniture yet?" He turned back to his stunned son and waited for an answer.  
"Uh, it was a gift. Dad, what are you doing here?" Sheriff Stilinski rolled his eyes and placed the food on the coffee table.  
"Did you really think I wouldn't find out about your accident?" Stiles bit his lip as he closed the door to his place.  
"I meant to call you but I didn't know how to make you not worried."  
"Not to make me worried? Stiles, I'm always going to be worried about my only son! Just keep me in the loop with things okay?" Stiles nodded and sat down on his couch.  
"Eat." He pushed the bag towards his son as he walked around the tiny condo. He walked towards the window and looked through, the streets below filtering with employees racing to work.  
"You like it here?" Stiles shrugged his shoulder and dug into his Dutch Babies. He hummed contently and chewed happily, watching his dad rummage through some of his things.  
Observing his dad, a heavy weight settled in his heart. These past few years, he had been distancing himself from his dad. The sheriff could read him like an open book and if he ever found out about Derek, he knew his father wouldn't look at him the same. He remembers a particular time when he went out with a guy and came back home with a broken nose and a black eye. His father nursed him but couldn't quite meet his eyes. It was like he was disappointed in what Stiles was becoming and from then on, Stiles swore to never make that look cross his father's face ever again.  
"Stiles? You still with me?" Stiles blinked back some unshed tears and realized he was slashing into his pancake but never eating it. He dropped the fork and looked up to find his father watching him.  
"What did you say?"  
"Melissa is here as well so we're going out to eat tonight. Are you sure you're okay?" Stiles smiled and nodded, pushing himself up and walking towards his dad. He wrapped his arms around his neck and clung to him tightly.  
"I'm glad you're here." Stiles mumbled and his dad squeezed his son closer.  
"Me too, Kiddo. Me too."

^

Laura popped into Derek's room, a mischievous smile egging its way out onto her face.  
"What did you do?" Derek grabbed a clean shirt and put it on as his sister took a seat on his bed.  
"Guess who I ran into at this café."  
"I don't have time for your games Laura." He rolled his eyes as he sat down next to her. She squeezed his thigh and he swatted her hand away lightly.  
"Sheriff Stilinski! He's in town to visit Stiles. He invited all of us to dinner."  
"No. Absolutely not."  
"But Bear, it'll be nice."  
"Laura-"  
"It doesn't matter what you're going to say, I already told him yes. Be ready by six." She got up and walked away leaving Derek to wallow in sadness for a bit.

^

"Did you know they were coming?" Stiles adjusted his beanie in the visor mirror. Scott was driving them all to the restaurant.  
"No idea. My mom showed up at my doorsteps and Allison dragged her out with Kate to eat lunch." Stiles nodded and looked at the city lights that illuminated the dark.  
"Son, we might be older, but we're not deaf." His father said and Stiles felt his ears heat up. Scott snickered next to him as he pulled into the parking lot. As soon as he unbuckled himself from his seat, Kate was dragging him out of the vehicle to pull him into a hug.  
"Super fragile. Ease up on the Argent hold." Kate laughed and proceeded to welcome the rest in the same way. Allison gave him her best dimpled smile and kissed his cheek. Lydia, on the other hand, rolled his eyes at his outfit choice before removing his beanie and kissing his cheek. Kate came up beside him and slipped her hand in his and skipped with him to the entrance.  
"You feeling any better?"  
"This is like my first time out since the accident but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be." He shrugged as Kate removed her sunglasses from their hanging place on her shirt.  
"Take these just in case the lights start to bug you." He nodded and pecked her cheeks as they were led to a table towards the back of the room. He stopped once his eyes landed on a dark haired guy, his back towards him. He saw Derek visibly tense as he turned around to face him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Isaac slip closer to Erica.  
"Stiles? You okay, honey?" He stopped his stare down with Derek when Kate tugged on his arm. She rubbed it and tilted her to the side, looking at him with worried eyes.  
"What? I'm fine." He smiled and she pulled him down into a seat.  
"Stiles, say hello to your guests." His dad pulled him right back up and Stiles tried really hard not to groan.  
"It's nice seeing you again Stiles. Enjoying your new furniture?" Stiles blushed as his dad looked between Laura and him.  
"Stiles! Written any new songs?" Cora interjected, saving Stiles from explaining himself to his father. He smiled sheepishly as a reply and walked towards the wall where the other guests have gathered. He introduced himself to Erica again and her husband, Boyd. The only thing that made that encounter less awkward was the laughing Sylvia that was playing hide and seek behind Boyd's legs. Stiles entertained her for a bit before going back to Kate, avoiding Isaac and Derek.  
"Who's the hunk in the leather jacket?"  
"Does it matter?" Stiles snapped and Kate had a knowing smirk placed on her lips.  
"Babe, I'm only joking." She lightly punched Stiles shoulder but he was quickly growing irritated with her and everyone silently judging him. He stood to find Scott, his only source quietness.  
He was at the minibar located in their section and ordering an ice tea.  
"Make that two please." The server nodded and Scott smiled brightly at Stiles but that soon faded when Stiles barely managed to return it back. Scott placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed before dropping it and reaching for an iced tea. They were quiet for a moment before Scott nudged Stiles side.  
"What Scott?"  
"I don't know how much you've been paying attention, but dude reeks of disappointment. And it's only when he looks at you." Stiles swallowed his drink down and tapped on the counter to get another. Way to tamper down any confidence Stiles had.  
"He wouldn't be the first. Even my dad does sometimes." Stiles left then, not bothering to wait for Scott's puppy eyes to make an appearance. He slumped in his seat as he waited for the food that has been already ordered.

^

Dinner went surprisingly easy. There was no more awkward tension in the air, no more glares thrown his way, and Stiles finally found himself enjoying the company surrounding him. They were all heading out and Stiles saw Allison and Scott from the corner of his eye. They looked like they were in a heated discussion but was soon stopped when Scott looked at him. He caught sight of Stiles staring and smiled innocently at Allison before jogging over to the car. They all hopped in and settled in the quiet lull that usually came after a pleasant night out.

^

Stiles woke up to the sound of hushed voices coming through his door. He sighed and got up, not even bothering to fixate the morning wood in his pants. He pushed open the sliding door to his room and nearly felt his mouth drop to the floor when he spotted Derek and his father in the kitchen.  
"You're up. That's good. I asked Derek to stop by early." Stiles eyes moved from staring at his dad to looking at Derek. An animalistic feature briefly crossed his face when his eyes scanned over the front of Stiles plaid pajamas and his morning wood twitched. He felt heat rush up to his cheeks and his dad coughed awkwardly.  
"Jesus son, go take care of yourself or something." Stiles blushed worsened at his dad's choice of words and he immediately fell back into his room, sliding the door shut in his wake. He decided what he either needed was to do was; go to a church or take a cold shower. He went for the latter and stripped himself of his clothes and climbed in. The cold felt nice but his thoughts strayed from why he initially felt the need to shower. His hand wandered downwards and he gripped his erection tightly in his hand. A few strokes had him pleased but with the added thoughts of Derek being in the other room and being able to _hear_ him, sent him into shallow thrusts into his hand. He bit his free hand hard to keep the strangled noises from escaping his mouth as he fucked into his hand, running his thumb over the slit. He came embarrassingly fast and nearly slipped in the shower when, what sounded like glass, broke in what he presumed was in his kitchen. He shut down the shower and quickly wrapped a towel around his waist, practically running to see if anyone was hurt. Derek stood with broken pieces of glass clinging to his bloody hands and a surprised Sherriff stood right next to him.  
"Guess Derek got happy washing the dishes." Derek's eyes widen and a blush spread to Stiles' face. Or maybe it never left?  
"I have to get going. We can rearrange this for later on tonight?" Derek quickly brushed off the pieces that clung to his cuts that were already starting to heal.  
"Sure son. It's not much trouble to just burden Peter with some fairy duty. Officer Parrish is willing to listen." Stiles was momentarily confused but quickly recovered when he found Derek staring at him. And not just regular staring, he was literally _undressing_ Stiles with his eyes, albeit, Stiles was merely a towel away from being naked. Stiles groaned at the hungry look Derek gave him.  
"Stiles, go get dressed." His gaze shifted to his father who was cutting up some fruits.  
"Yeah, I'll do that. Goodbye." He walked back into his room and slumped against his drawers. Why did his life have to be so complicated?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dutch babies are in the restaurant in Washington state. Also, I didn't really want to focus on the sheriff as much because that's a whole other story that's going to be touched possibly in the next chapter so forgive me for my vagueness. And another thing, since I'm back in school, chapters will be posted either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday so keep your eyes peeled!
> 
> PS - thanks for the awesome feedback so far on this story!


	11. The Devil Takes Care of His Own

It was around five in the afternoon and Stiles found himself sitting on his couch while his dad sat beside him, fiddling with a button on his shirt. Stiles could tell he wanted to talk but really, Stiles wasn't ready for _whatever_ talk he was going to find himself in. He struggled to stay focus on _Resurrection_ but he was getting so much whiplash on memories of things he ran from, he quickly changed the channel. He could feel pinpricks of sweat beads starting to dampen his temples and the air around him became even more awkward that he stood up abruptly. He stood in front of his father with his hands on his hips while his dad looked right at him.  
"Alright, I cave, what's going on here?"  
"I have no idea what you're talking about."  
"Don't give me that shit dad. You know exactly what I'm talking about. What happened between us? It was supposed to be 'us against the world' but now - now it's like you don't even _want_ to associate yourself with me!" Stiles eyes began to burn and he had to talk through the lump that was building in his throat.  
"It is still 'us against the world'. Let me remind you, it wasn't me who ran away or shut people out when things got temporarily bad."  
"Oh, low blow dad. Low fucking blow. At least I didn't look at you like the biggest disappointment in the world after mom died and threw myself into work because I couldn't take care of a nine-year-old kid." Tears were falling now but he didn't care.  
"Are you saying I think you're a disappointment _Yozef_? You're the greatest thing that has happened to me. I admit, I may have lost a little faith in the universe when they took away a beautiful wife and an even better mother. Can you really blame me? I saw so much her in you that it threw me off because the things you said, hell, the things you _say_ remind me so much of her, I just get angry over the fact that she was ripped out of our lives so suddenly. I can live without remarrying but I can't live with the thought of you only growing up with me. How the hell was I supposed to raise a hyperactive intelligent kid? I am sorry I gave you the impression that you disappointed me." His dad was standing now and Stiles was shaking with sobs that when the embrace did come, he practically melted into it.  
"I thought you hated what I was growing up to be." He mumbled against his dads shoulders.  
"Hated what you were becoming? Son, I took online classes to keep up with my ADHD kid. I wanted to know how your mind worked but I guess those classes were a waste because I still haven't figured you out." Stiles stepped out of the hug and gave his dad a small smile. His dad returned it, his eyes were red from the silent tears he was shedding.  
"Guess we have to make up for the last five years of misunderstanding then, huh?"  
"Looks like it." Stiles smiled wider then and hugged his father again.  
"Wait, did you call me by my first name?" He pulled back abruptly and his father started laughing.  
"Is that literally the only thing that stuck with you?"  
"No, but dad, don't ever say that name again." He shuddered at the name and his dad laughed more and Stiles couldn't help but join him. He didn't know how long he was waiting to hear those words from his dad, but was the wait worth it.

^

After their talk, Stiles told the Sheriff he was going to buy them dinner at the Chinese restaurant down the street. He opened the door to his condo and was startled by finding Lydia, Sylvia and Derek in his living room along with his dad. Now he understands why his dad called him to ask him to bring more food. He should have guessed.  
"I didn't know we were having guests." Wow, way to sound like a dick Stilinski.  
"We don't mean to intrude." Derek said as he squeezed Sylvia closer to him and Stiles had to distract himself from saying 'Please stay. Forever.'  
"It's fine. I actually forgot you were coming over anyways. Doesn't explain Lydia though." Lydia stuck out her tongue at him and he beamed.  
"She was taking care of Xylia here, and I was going to drop her off at Scott's." Stiles nodded and started to unpack the food when he glanced over at his dad who had a smirk on his face. Blush crept up his neck and he refused to look at anything other than the food.  
"Well, you're welcomed to eat." He went to get plates and utensils. He gave everyone what they needed as they all began digging in. Stiles took a seat on the floor while Lydia, Derek and Sylvia squeezed onto his sofa and his dad had moved a chair into the living room.  
"Lyds, I thought you were a vegan?"  
"Sweetie, that was years ago. I just now watch my weight." She rolled her eyes at him and he picked at his pork fried rice.  
"What's vegan?" He looked up to find round brown eyes staring right at him. He swallowed down the rice.  
"It's when you don't like having nice things in your tummy. Lydia used to eat yucky stuff when we were younger." She giggled and bit greedily into her egg roll.  
"How old are you Stilinski?" Lydia smiled at him and the Sheriff laughed lightly as he handed Derek some wipes for Sylvia.  
"Six. Six and a half on good days." Stiles looked up from his plate to Derek who was watching him with kind eyes. Was Derek _joking_ with him? His life is seriously one big joke.  
"You're one to talk Hale. You don't like sharing."  
"He's right Bear!" Sylvia said through a mouthful of god-knows-what.  
" _Bear_?" Stiles nearly choked on his food as Derek's ears starting to turn into a bright red color.  
"Shut up _Yozef_." Stiles blushed so hard, he could probably melt Antarctica with the amount of heat he was extruding.  
"We're surrounded by idiots John." Lydia said as she went to dump her plate in the sink.

^

He was so glad he bought extra food. Between the five of them, Sylvia and Derek competed with who can out eat each other. Stiles lost count how many times Sylvia and Derek kept going back to eat more. John watched on in amusement as Lydia tried to slow down Sylvia.  
After dinner, Derek and his father went into the kitchen to discuss about Officer Parrish and how he recently discovered he was a fairy while Stiles and Lydia distracted Sylvia so her little cub ears wouldn't pick up on the conversation. She ended up falling asleep on top of Stiles. They were currently out in the hallway when Lydia decided to talk.  
"So Derek." Stiles looked at her and raised an eyebrow, basically telling her to continue.  
"Oh don't give me that look. I knew you guys were pining over each other when we were in high school but tonight, I could see there is more to the story. I would like to know."  
"There's nothing to discuss Lydia. I'm not going to front here. Maybe there was potential for something to happen back then but everyone was so caught up with saving a small town, there was never time. Things happen, and people drift apart. I was holding up the pieces of a broken story."  
"So you thought running was the better option?" Stiles nodded and fixed Sylvia when her head began to wobble to the side.  
"So why did you choose to lean on a man you knew was falling?" Stiles heart picked up as he contemplated how he could answer her.  
"He - he was my anchor. I was so used to everyone leaning on me, I forgot how damaged he was, for fucks sake, still is. I just wanted someone to be there for me." He was going to say he still wants someone to lean on. He wants _Derek_ to lean on.  
The door opened then and Derek stood at the entryway. He looked down at them and Stiles tried really hard not to look at him. He knew Derek heard everything they were discussing, he completely forgot about him.  
"We're leaving now." Stiles stood and Lydia kissed his cheek and waved to John who was standing right behind Derek. Stiles handed Sylvia over who whined in her sleep. Derek was staring at him and Stiles - with all his might - could not look away. John coughed behind Derek and they broke their stares as John smiled at Derek.  
"Glad we could fix one thing." Stiles turned, wide-eyed, towards his father who was outright smirking at him.  
"Right. Goodnight." Derek turned and left but Stiles saw the blush on his neck and he knew he was sporting it as well.  
"Oh come on Stiles, _everyone_ has had their guesses about you guys ever since you were in high school. It doesn't take a genius - or in this case, Lydia - to figure it out." Stiles groaned as he took a seat on his sofa. His dad sat next to him and put an arm around his son.  
"Whatever you were discussing out there with Lydia, made him have to actually concentrate really hard on what I was saying. He actually ended up growling at some point in frustration." Stiles looked up at his dad who was smiling at him.  
"Believe me when I say this kiddo, the soul feels reborn when you meet someone you fall repeatedly for."  
"You're taking this surprisingly well considering I never once told you I was actually into men."  
"Son, when all your history was 'bearded guys screw twinks', you stop questioning your child's sexual orientation." Stiles eyes couldn't get any wider as his dad laughed at the memory.  
"Oh god, I am going to die of embarrassment. Why didn't you tell me?!"  
"Some things are better left unsaid." Stiles just sunk into his sofa as his dad continued to laugh at his embarrassment.

^

Stiles jumped in his sleep when a rasp was heard on his window. He was currently only dressed in a white t-shirt and boxers. He reached under his bed for his trusty bat and he slid the door open from his room as he approached the sound. He nearly had a heart attack when a black figure appeared in front of him. He swung his bat and heard a crack as his bat connected with whoever intruded his place.  
" _Fuck_!" Derek's voice echoed through the condo and Stiles scurried to turn on the light into the living room.  
"Derek, _what the actual fuck_?!" Derek was cradling his arm as Stiles let the bat fall limply from his hand. The metal clattered on the floor but he stood his ground as Derek snarled at the bat, as if it personally afflicted pain on him. In retrospect, it did, but that was because Derek is dumb. Who comes in through windows anyways? They weren't in Beacon Hills anymore!  
"Dude, did you scale the building and then break into my condo? People could have seen you!" Stiles practically races to the window to peer outside to make sure no one did see him.  
"It's three in the morning, who's going to notice?" Touché, Stiles thinks.  
'Where's your father?"  
"He's over at Scott's. I don't necessarily have a guest room per se." Stiles shrugs as he gestures around his living conditions. Derek nods and looks around the place. It should be terrifying how he was becoming used to seeing Derek in his house like he _belongs_ there. It doesn't though. He craves him there. Speaking of Derek being there, that brings up the big elephant in the room as to why Derek was there.  
"Why are you here Derek?"  
"You almost told Lydia about what - what we had." It was like the words were vomit and Derek felt revolted to even admit it.  
"It wasn't like we were completely being secret about it to begin with."  
"It would have been disastrous from the start." Shit, Derek really wanted to go there.  
"I'm not exactly denying that but we could have worked through it." He says it quietly because the second the words come out, he's instantly regretting it.  
"I'm pretty sure some people would have disagreed with whatever you wanted to make of us."  
"I thought you don't give up on pack?" Stiles was gnawing on his bottom lip as Derek studied him carefully before answering.  
"You're not pack anymore." And fuck, Stiles thought Derek's first rejection hurt.  
"Since when?" Derek's eyes flashed red as he stepped into Stiles' personal space. He had to force himself to stand his ground under the scrunching glare.  
"Since you turned your back on his and ran. Like that was the easy way out."  
"I didn't run from what was happening! Okay, maybe yeah, a little, but I ran from you!" The words were out and Derek's canines were literally biting at his bottom lip.  
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"  
"No, you do not come into my house and demand things from me!" He pushed at Derek's chest but he barely moved.  
"You don't get to tell me what to do. Five years Stiles. You _owe_ me." Stiles can't believe he's having this conversation with Derek, and he's in his boxers.  
"Owe you?! That is the stu-" The words died off as Derek pushed him into the wall, his lips chasing away the thought. The kiss was needy, desperate, and everything Stiles wanted. His mouth fell open and Derek swiped his tongue in, clearly not waiting for any other invitation. Derek pushed his thigh between Stiles and he happily welcomed it. As much as Stiles wanted this, it was all too much and he had to stop it.  
"We - we're bad for e-each other." Stiles said once Derek took the task to biting at his neck. He stopped and looked up to meet Stiles' golden eyes.  
"Isn't this what you wanted?"  
"I - yes. But not like this." His mouth went dry as a wave of nausea hit him. "A-and you don't want this?" Derek didn't answer him, he didn't have to.  
"What? This is like a service for you? Try and mend the wounds you left open for years?"  
"I was just trying to fix this."  
"What? This was supposed to beneficiary for me? You can't fix the past with sex Derek! I'm - I'm not some way of trying to rid the guilt you built on your shoulders when you left me. I refuse to be some relief when it's only benefiting you." Derek had moved back considerably and Stiles was shaking with rage. He didn't say anything and Stiles had about enough of his one-sided fight.  
"I think you should go." He looked up and met Derek's gaze. Derek wasn't looking at him but nodded.  
"Take the door." Derek was already heading for the window but turned around. He didn't look at Stiles anymore and Stiles was thankful. He probably would have begged Derek to look at him like he did back when things came so simply to him.  
The door shut behind him and Stiles sunk to the ground. He hugged his legs closer to him and wept silently to the night. 

^

Stiles was currently being shaken awake and he groaned. After Derek had left and after crying to his hearts content, he went to his liquor cabinet and poured himself a drink. One drink became two and so on and so forth. He ended up falling asleep on his kitchen floor but he didn't care.  
"Stiles, come on, let's get you to bed." It was Scott who was shaking him and Stiles nodded. He was currently being helped up and being dragged into his bedroom. Once settled into the bed, he finally opened his eyes to find a worrying Scott looking at him.  
"I came over because you weren't answering your phone but I see why."  
"I've found love at the bottom of an empty glass." Stiles mutters.  
"You really shouldn't mix pills and drinks." Scott pushes back the hair that was sticking to Stiles' face.  
"What's the occasion?" Stiles mumbles about not being pack, Derek, kissing, and something about disappointment. He could practically feel Scott fuming beside him.  
"I'm gonna fucking murder him. No one hurts my best friend." His words sound slightly slurred and Stiles peers at his mouth and finds his teeth have elongated and he was already halfway to being wolfed-out.  
"What good will it do Scotty? Just let m figure this out on my own, okay?" Scott's Alpha-eyes looked at him but he nodded anyways.  
"He's ridiculous." Stiles had to agree with him there.  
"Mind telling everyone I don't want guests today? Not in the mood for interacting." Scott nodded and moved in close to nudge his nose into his temple, his way of scenting him.  
"Thanks buddy." Scott nodded and walked out then, leaving Stiles to deal with his problems on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably one of my favorite chapters so far! Hope you guys like it! :)


	12. Pretend.Relive.Regret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Throwback to younger Sterek (so sorry for all the italicization) :)
> 
> PS - Hale fire took place but no one was murdered obviously. Also I needed a cute family moment.

_"Jesus Christ Derek, lighten up a bit, will ya?" Stiles wraps his arms around Derek's neck, trying to relieve some of the tensions off his shoulders. Stiles understands why Derek is so tense. Really, he'd be a bad - whatever Derek thinks of him, them - if he didn't understand. They just finished uncovering the truth of the_ Threefold Death _and it's been taking it's toll on everyone. Derek especially since he has to practically babysit his pack so they don't get killed._  
 _Derek pulled Stiles closer, flushing their bodies together as they stood amongst the ashes of the Hale house. He pressed his forehead against Stiles and hummed contently at the contact._  
 _"M'Sorry." He mumbles as Stiles barely ghosts his lips against his own._  
 _"S'okay. Just don't be such a grump about it. I know you can't help it considering you came out of the womb with a permanent "I hate the world and everything that inhabits it" face." Derek chuckled into the crook of Stiles neck and Derek tugged on the nape of his hair. Derek met his gaze and was met with Stiles looking at him fondly. He leaned in, bumping his nose against Stiles, wanting to touch as much skin as he can. Stiles lips came crashing onto his. It would probably be a bruising kiss if it were anyone else but Derek enjoys Stiles inexpertise. He loves the way Stiles rushes the kiss into something more needy and how his mouth slacks a bit, letting Derek roam around. Soft noises left Stiles and his grip on Derek's hair grew tighter with more determination. Derek pulled back, dragging out Stiles' bottom lip._  
 _"Why?" Stiles pouted as Derek just placed a chaste kiss on his lips._  
 _"You know why." He rolls his eyes as Stiles' arms fall limply to his biceps to squeeze them._  
 _"Yeah but I'll be eighteen soon."_  
 _"In a year."_  
 _"Big deal." Stiles flails his hand in the air for emphasis. Derek chuckles and kisses his forehead before stepping back and glancing around the room._  
 _"By the way, if we're here because you're trying to seduce - hello, don't have to try much - I'm a little appalled at how easy you think I am._ I _would have at least had the decency to set up some candles and littered the floor with scattered roses." Derek quirks up an eyebrow as Stiles places his hands on his hip._  
 _"I didn't bring you here for that."_  
 _"No shit Sherlock." Stiles rolls his eyes before walking over to a lamp that was covered in a layers of ash and dust._  
 _"You have an over imaginative mind." Derek says as he rummages through some drawers._  
 _"Well one of has to be the romantic in this relationship." He senses Stiles tense up but doesn't comment on it. He's too focused on finding the Triskelion that Peter demands to have. Stiles cough as a storm of ash invades his nostrils. Derek's right by his side and he curls a hand over the back of his neck, gently pulling him away from ashes._  
 _"Hey, you okay? I can do this by myself. Why don't you just go home?" Derek is rubbing his thumb in slow circles in the back of his neck and Stiles practically melts into the touch._  
 _"Well it would be super helpful if I knew what we were looking for."_  
 _"The Triskelion. Peter needs it for some odd reason." Stiles hums and glances around the room when an idea pops up in his head._  
 _"This could go a lot faster if I knew what it looked like. Didn't you say you had it tattooed on your back or something?" Stiles bites his bottom lip and tilts his head to the side as Derek studies him. He really hopes Derek doesn't actually know that Stiles knows exactly what he's taking about. He's had to save Derek's bare self more times than his right hand could take. He still wasn't going to miss this opportunity for Derek to half strip just so he can actually gawk at him now that they had a thing going._  
 _Derek doesn't answer him and Stiles was starting to worry that he knows about Stiles' white lie but then in a quick movement, his shirt is moved and thrown on the ground like it was on fire. He turned slowly around and Stiles had to pull his collar a bit because, shit, was it getting hot in here? If Stiles thought his front was amazing, his back was just deadly._  
 _"G-got it." His voice comes out a bit strangled and Derek knows exactly what he's doing to him. Instead of being a civil werewolf, Derek doesn't even bother putting on his shirt again. Stiles is probably releasing endorphins in tsunami waves because fuck Derek and his hot self. He has to lean against the wall and try to force down his raging boner but suddenly, Derek's all in his personal space and Stiles whines when his knee brushes against his crotch._  
 _"Unfair." He says as he grips Derek's shoulders closer to him and Derek actually_ growls _at Stiles' eagerness. He tugs Derek closer and finally closes the distance between them and Stiles is practically dry humping Derek's thigh as Derek takes charge of licking and sucking Stiles' collarbones._  
 _Something falls beside them when the back of Stiles' head connects with the wall a little harsher than what he expected but he was so caught up in the feeling, that he almost screamed when Derek pulled back to glance at the fallen object. He ducks down and picks up a circular disc and turns it over in his hands. From his position, Stiles sees the design of the Triskelion and he tries not to groan as loudly as he wants._  
 _"Guess our fun is over." Derek smiles at him sheepishly and walks over to his discarded shirt._  
 _"Hey, you're welcome!" Stiles calls after Derek's retreating form. He turns around and quirks up an eyebrow._  
 _"Yanno, if I hadn't banged my head we would have been here all night looking for it. Actually, come to think of it, I kind of just cockblocked any potential sex that was going to ensue tonight." Stiles frowns and Derek walks back to him, placing another kiss to his forehead._  
 _"Soon." He mumbles against Stiles' ears and with that hope, Stiles is practically beaming when he walks out hand and hand with Derek to his Camaro._

^

His phone rings for what seems like the hundredth time. For someone who was pissed at Derek for all the right reasons, he was more than upset when whoever was calling him interrupted a dream about them.  
 _"You're kind of pathetic, you know that right?"_ Stiles rolls his eyes and wonders why he even bothered answering Lydia's call.  
"Excuse me for having some _feelings_ Lydia. Not all of us can pull the heartless card and not regret it." He rolls his eyes again, thankful that she isn't there to see him do it.  
 _"Stop feeling sorry for yourself and just go talk to him."_  
"Lydia, I know Scott told you what happened so you know very well that won't be happening. So just drop it, okay?" He ran his hand through his hair and kicked his sheets off. He's been in bed all day, avoiding as much responsibility as possible.  
 _"Fine, but I feel bad. Sorry this happened to you."_ She actually sounds genuine about it and Stiles tries not to cry all over again.  
"Yeah Lyds. Thanks. See you." He hangs up before she can say something else and tosses his phone across his bed. He refuses to give in to temptation. No matter how good temptation looks and feels.

^

Picking up her strawberry curls, she puts in a tight bun and glances over to Allison who is looking at her like she's crazy.  
"Don't even start. Look, I know how good this kid can be. I've had first hand account and it actually hurts that he's wasting his time on a scumbag that is Derek." Allison sighs and glances out the window to the Southcenter Mall they're currently at. They've been stalking Derek all morning and when he finally made his way out his house, Lydia followed him like prey.  
"He's our alpha."  
"Our _ex_ Alpha, need I remind you. And plus, Scott's our shitty Alpha now so he'll come defend us if anything happens." Lydia shrugs as she starts unbuckling her seatbelt.  
"He is not shitty!" Allison hisses in her ear as soon as she catches up.  
"You're right, but he really doesn't know what to do _until_ he's under pressure." She pats Allison's shoulder and practically sashays into the mall. It's surprisingly quiet and Lydia thinks it won't be too hard to corner Derek. Except she's wrong and circles the mall with Allison on her heels. She was about to give up when she runs straight into a brooding figure, Allison not too far behind.  
"Are you serious?" She peers down to the _Teavana_ bag Derek was holding. Derek's eyes were covered by his glasses but his eyebrows peeped through as he raised one at the sudden confrontation.  
"Excuse me?" He shifted the bags in his hand and Lydia was going to enjoy the fact that she was going to actually say what's been on her mind.  
"You're pathetic Derek. Almost as pathetic as Stiles." She hears Allison whisper her name and watches as Derek intakes a sharp breath.  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"You know what it means, Hale. I am sick of watching Stiles get hurt and I won't stand for it no more." She crosses her arms across her chest and cocks her head to the side. At least Allison has the decency to look ashamed to be there.  
"You don't think I know what I did to Stiles hurt? I'm well aware and it sucks but maybe it's best we don't try to bring anything from this." Lydia refused to take a step back even as Derek invaded her personal space.  
"No Derek. You do not get out of this so easily." She propped at his chest with her index finger and he glared at it. She wouldn't be surprised if he flared his red eyes at her.  
"Fix this, or I won't be the only one who you'll be answering to." She turned on her heel, dragging Allison with her. Good, she got the last word in.

^

Derek opens the door back to his place and isn't surprised when Laura is waiting for him perched on the island in his kitchen. He walks towards her, never looking away as he puts the bags down.  
"What is it this time Laura?" He goes over to sit on the couch. He turns on the television but can practically feel the awkwardness emitting from Laura.  
"So, there's this guy." He hesitates as he scrolls through the channels but waits for her to continue at her own pace. He's learned many times before that Laura isn't one to rush.  
"Are you trying to have the brother-sister talk with me? Do I have to beat someone up?" He hears Laura laugh and turns to look at her.  
"As if you could. You're too soft." She smiles over at him and he smirks.  
"What's his name?" She hesitates and he sees her cheeks actually turn a faint pink color and he has to hold in a laugh.  
"Isaac Lahey." Derek's eyebrows shoot up but he doesn't comment on it.  
"Well, good for you."  
"That's it?" She looks genuinely confused and Derek takes amusement to that.  
"That's it." He looks at her curiously, head tilted to the side, trying to pick up her heartbeat.  
"Yeah right."  
"Serious." He keeps his blank face as Laura scans his features, probably waiting for a punch line or something.  
"Okay?" A smirk tugs at the corner of his lips as he shrugs at Laura who just smiles back at him. She walks over and sits n his lap. Really, how old is she?  
"So tell me about what happened when you ran into the infamous Lydia Martin?" He cocks an eyebrow up and she just rolls her eyes at him and pats his chest.  
"Come on, I've had to deal with the powers of Lydia before and plus, you reeked of her when you walked in. Unless I'm totally reading this wrong and you were boning a soon-to-be-married woman?"  
"No, I wasn't having sex with Lydia." He rolled his eyes at his sister before shoving her off his lap. She huffed out a breath of frustration before running after Derek and hopping on his back.  
"Not so fast little bro, what happened? You smell like you nearly pissed yourself." Derek would be lying if he said he wasn't intimated by Lydia. If Allison wasn't there, he probably would have scurried away because Lydia is terrifying when she wants to be.  
He dropped Laura off on the island and began rummaging through his fridge for some food. He pulled out ingredients to make a sandwich and began to quietly make a sandwich for him and his sister.  
"She basically said I'll be sorry if I hurt Stiles." He said as he handed off the meal to his sister. She took it and gingerly bit into the bread, contemplating her next choice of words.  
"Now why would she say that? It isn't like you talked to him, right?" Derek refused to meet her gaze and turned back to the fridge to pull out two beers. Uncapping them both, he slide one to Laura who snickered and took a swig of her drink.  
"Maybe she said it because I kind of broke into Stiles' house and forcefully made-out with him before saying some nasty things." He said it around the opening of his drink and Laura was staring at him wide-eyed.  
"Derek. What. The. _Hell?_ That is not okay. I am so glad she got ahold of you first before I did. How dare you do that to someone! He doesn't deserve that whatsoever."  
"Wow Laury, I'm glad you didn't plan to tear me a new one." She rolled her eyes and jumped off the counter to stand next to her brother.  
"I'm not on your side but you are my brother and it sucks that either of you are getting hurt because of something that happened in the past. You guys need to talk this out. No force involved." She pinched his arm and he slapped her hand away.  
"Considering all the nasty things I said to him, I highly doubt he wants to talk to me."  
"You have little faith in people, Bear." She pats his arm before walking towards the guestroom. Derek doesn't say that he has utmost faith that Stiles will talk to him. He doesn't give her the satisfaction that the only person Derek has faith in, is Stiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so hard NOT to get them to jump their bones immediately. I am never one to write fics where the slow build is, well, _slow_. I always rush with any story I write, but I want this one to take its time because its been YEARS of letting something build, who could possibly rush in? With that being said, this particular fic is going to be approximately 20-25 chapters long and since I don't really plan what the next chapter will be about until I actually start writing, I won't know for sure until I feel like it's being dragged too long. That doesn't mean that there isn't going to be any Sterek scenes! I just don't want it to be like, bam!, sex! Anyways, I hope you're all still on board with this story hah.


	13. But Breathing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Filler. Setting up the stage for the Sterek that is brewing!

"Jesus, it's like someone kicked your puppy." A blonde woman said as she strides up to the counter that Derek was behind. He recognizes her as the leech that clings to Stiles whenever they're together.  
"Do I know you?" He says as he hands a manila folder off to the nurses and rounds the corner, only to be met by blonde vision.   
"Kate. Kate Argent. Allison's aunt and Stiles' best friend, or so I'd like to think." She smirks as he intakes a sharp breath of air. She seems menacing compared to Allison and honestly, Derek wouldn't have known it was her because he's only seen her being Stiles' shadow whenever he's had to be around her. He voices it as much as he thinks it.  
As soon as the words leave his lips, her head is being thrown back and a laugh erupts as she tries desperately to regain her composure.  
"Oh, Stiles is going to have a kick out of that once I tell him." She wipes her eyes as tears have gathered in the corner, placing a hand on his bicep. He stiffens at the gesture and she removes her hand nonchalantly, turning a bit to lean on the counter.   
"What are you doing here?" He taps his fingers against the counter as she glances down to her manicured nails, oddly resembling Laura whenever she was trying to feign mysterious.   
"Allison had a little mishap with some arrows," He looks slightly mortified and she rolled her eyes, "as in, she got mad at me and cut her hand on the arrow she was gripping." She shrugs and turns around to look at him fully. She scrutinizes her gaze and he's starting to feel uncomfortable when Allison appears, her hand bandaged up and a small frown on her lips. She startles a bit when she seems them close together but a smile slowly creeps onto her face as she nears them.  
"Hi Derek." He nods his head and Kate raises an eyebrow in question.   
"You know the almighty Derek?" Allison rolls her eyes at her aunts choice of words but nods nonetheless.   
"We should get going," Kate starts but turns her attention back to Derek, "but before we do, we're having a little get together tomorrow night at Allison's place. You should come." Derek wants to decline nicely but Allison chirps up.  
"It'd be like old times Derek." Her big brown eyes really had him won. He sighs and nods, promising the second he was released from work, he would be over. The girls both smiled and Kate slung her arm around Allison's shoulders. 

^

Derek arrives mid-swing of the "little" get together Kate had promised him to attend. He's a little overwhelmed for a bit when a fit of curly brown hair bounds towards him and encircles his legs into a big hug. He looks down to find Sylvia grinning at him, a tooth missing from the front. He bends down and she scrambles to climb into his lap.  
"Hey cutie, what are you doing here?" Before Sylvia could answer, a pair of legs stand in front of him and he looks up to find Kate smiling down at him.  
"Invited your gang over as well, seeing as though it would be awkward to only have you over." She smirks at him and he forces a smile onto his face as Sylvia decides to pet his beard. He turns back to her and smiles.  
"What happened to your tooth, booger?" She giggles at the name and claps her hands over her mouth, possibly be attempting to hide the temporary hole in her mouth.  
"It fell out and Diles helped me!" She giggled at the horrendous pronunciation of Stiles' name and Derek tried not to tense as the smell of something spicy and warm invaded his nostrils. The smell that was associated with Stiles' being.  
"I was trying for gentle and the second I turned my back, she yanked it out!" Stiles came out with a washcloth in his hand, drying them off before tossing the rag aside. It takes about thirty seconds to him to realize that there is so much tension in the room. He looks up and glances around the room before his eyes land on Derek's. He tries to feign for casual but his startled look gives him away. It's gone in few seconds because he's looking down at Sylvia and a smile spreads on his face. He starts walking towards them, kneeling down to their level.   
"You're a tough one, pup." He declares with such awe in his words that has Derek scanning over his features shamelessly. The room is back to being chaotic and Derek migrated with Sylvia attached to his hip towards the couch. Alongside them, Stiles interacted with Sylvia and Derek knew she appreciated it a lot. She was always left out "adult conversations" so it was probably nice to talk to someone about things even if they were fragmented sentences.   
"Bear!" She clutches his neck with her tiny hands and he winces when he feels her claws dig into it.   
"Xylia, loosen up, will ya?" She blushes and releases his neck so she can bounce in his lap.  
"Did you hear what Diles said?" He rolls his eyes and raises his brows for her to continue.  
"He said he used to backpack through Stralia!" She clapped her hands together and he glanced over to Stiles who was smiling sheepishly beside them.  
"Is that right?" He fixes her so she doesn't fall off his lap with how much jumping she was doing.  
"Mhm!"   
"That's very cool." She nods vigorously, her brown curls falling into her face, making Derek push them back behind her ears. He looks up to find Stiles staring at him, his lips parted slightly and all Derek wanted to do was kiss him stupid. But he knows better.  
"What's backpack?" Leave it to Sylvia to fill in the awkward silences.   
"It's when you hike through a place for some time."  
"Like when mommy and I play in the woods?" Her brown eyes search his face for answers that Derek is more than happy to answer.  
"Kind of, except it's somewhere you don't usually visit." She hums and deems the conversation over as she slides off Derek's lap to go over to Laura who was currently looking at pictures plastered on the wall by the entryway. Stiles watches her go with a kind smile on his face, he turns back to look at Derek, clearly forgetting he was mad at him to begin with. His face contorts a bit before he sighs and rubs a hand over his features.   
"Hey." Derek tries for casual, hoping he isn't pressuring Stiles into talking to him.  
"Hi." Stiles replies softly. Derek looks over and finds him staring down at his hands. He misses holding his hands, he misses kissing Stiles senseless whenever he was sad or babbling, he misses Stiles mumbling in his sleep. He misses _Stiles_. He whimpers a bit, causing Stiles to snap his head at him. He's worrying his bottom between his teeth and Derek tugs it down, making Stiles flinch at the touch. He sighs then. He's not making anything better; in fact, it's progressively getting worse because Derek is bad luck.   
Before he could probably do another stupid thing, dinner was announced and Stiles was getting up, not looking back at him.   
"I want to sit next to Diles!" Sylvia shouts by her place next to Erica.  
"You have to sit next to me, who's going to cut up your chicken?" Sylvia pouts. Derek watches as Stiles pulls out the seat next to him, looking right at Sylvia when he does so. Sylvia beams and scrambles to sit next to him before anyone else does. Erica starts to protest but Stiles just shakes his head.  
"I don't mind helping her out." He pushed the strands off her face as she smiled at him. Derek took over the empty seat next to Erica, directly across Stiles.  
"Well, dig in everyone!" Kate announces once everyone is settled. The food smells delicious and has everyone's mouth watering even after they've had their first bites.   
The table is filled with idle chatter that Derek chooses not to participate in because he's too enthralled by Sylvia and Stiles - who have made it a competition to see who could stick their spoons onto their nose first. Sylvia's giggles faded into the surrounding sounds so no one paid attention. Stiles ended up loosing and he pouted when Sylvia's little nose held onto the spoon longer than Stiles' did. Derek chuckled quietly to himself but Stiles eyes roved over to him, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lip. Sylvia sniffed the air, attempting to disfigure the new smells that lingered in the air. Erica nudged him and scolded him with her face because it was Derek who was releasing Lust smells and he felt his cheeks redden as Sylvia frowned when she couldn't figure out the smells on her own. Stiles must of caught on what was happening because his eyes widen a bit and he glanced between the three of them before his neck started to turn a shade darker. Sylvia looked over at him and grinned at him mischievously. Derek had taught her what embarrassment smelled like when he walked in on Cora making it out with a boy and using her as an example. After she chased him around the forest, he had also taught Sylvia the smell of anger.  
Dinner ended and everyone made their way to the living room to watch a movie. Apparently the sheriff and Melissa were going back to Beacon Hills tomorrow along with Kate. She had promised she would come again before she went to visit her brother and Allison's stepmother in Maine. Derek wasn't too keen on Kate especially whenever she attached herself to Stiles but did appreciate the authority of the Argent in her. He was just glad that she was less psychotic than Gerard, Allison's unstable grandfather.   
Before Derek could join the others, Sylvia had slipped her little hand into his and practically dragged him to a guestroom. He looked and found Sylvia had reeled in Stiles as well and all he could do is offer him a shrug as Sylvia prompted them to sit on the floor. She eyed them suspiciously for a bit before she smiled at them wickedly - looking more like Erica everyday that passed.   
"We're gonna play prindess!" She claps her hands together as she looks between them.  
"What's 'prindess'?" Stiles turns to look at Derek, his nose scrunched up in confusion. Derek wants to kiss his confusion lines away.  
"Princess. She's pretty bad with her C's and S's." He shrugs as Sylvia walks over to a little bowl and dumps out whatever was in it before walking over to Stiles.   
"You'll be prindess because you're pretty and Bear is the knight!" She proclaims as she tries to place the bowl on top of Stiles' head. He helps her by picking her up and she thanks him with a sloppy kiss to his cheek. He laughs and places her down on the ground and turns to look at Derek.  
"Wait, who's the dragon if I'm the princess and you're the knight?" Before Derek could answer, Sylvia is jumps on him, using all her werepup strength. She actually knocks the wind out of him and laughs in triumphant as he coughs dramatically. She starts towards Stiles but Derek scoops her up before she advances on and directs Stiles to go into the walk-in closet to hide. He scurries away and he grabs a towel and throws it on her before hastily following Stiles. He closes the door and sits besides Stiles who is still proudly wearing the bowl as a crown.  
"Guess my knight in shining armor came through." Stiles smirks as he removes his "crown" from his head. Derek fights the urge to run his hands through his hair as he studies Stiles now that they've had some time.   
"You really care about her." Stiles says quietly after a few seconds of quiet. Derek looks over and watches as Stiles looks over his face.  
"M'sorry!" Derek blurts out and mentally kicks himself when Stiles jumps back a bit.  
"For what? I don't mind playing with Sylvia. She's kind of grown on me." He plays with a stray of cloth that were on his jeans.   
"She does that, but that's not what I meant." Stiles eyes him curiously before his eyes attempt to turn like saucers when he figures out what Derek meant.  
"I, I uh, I know I kind of deserved to have my dirty laundry aired out." He winced at his own choice of words before proceeding, "It still doesn't make what you did right. We've both been through enough as it is. I, for one, don't wan-" He was cut off when someone opened the door. Kate stood there with a smug look on her face while Sylvia sat on her hip, giggling at them.  
"I won! Diles, you dead!" Sylvia announced proudly.  
"Guess so, pup." Stiles stood up and kissed both of the girls on their foreheads before exiting the room - leaving Derek to pine from afar. 

^  
"Can Diles come over sometime?" A sleepy Sylvia asked as she clung to Boyd. She wiped away at her eyes, waiting for an answer.   
"If he wants too." Stiles smiled shyly as Erica winked at him. Derek finished loading the car seat and anything else that belonged to Sylvia in Boyd's car. Everyone had said goodbye inside but they hung out on the lawn as the Hale family and guests loaded up their car with food containers.   
"He's a good prindess." She mumbled in the crook of Boyd's neck before closing her eyes, possibly falling asleep already. Derek smiled and walked over to the gathered crowd.   
"I'll keep you updated on Officer Parrish." The sheriff said to Derek who nodded.  
"Have a safe flight home." He said to everyone that was leaving.   
"Are you leaving now?" Kate asked him and he tried really hard not to roll his eyes at her.   
"Yeah, I've got an early shift tomorrow." He hears Laura sigh as she snuggles closer to Isaac. Derek couldn't stand their PDA sometimes.   
"Oh, well it was nice to finally meet you." She held out her hand to him but threw a smirk at Stiles and Derek couldn't help but wondered what that meant. He waved his goodbye and headed over to his car. Before he got in, someone grabbed his shoulder, halting him. He turned around to find Stiles somewhat frowning at him.  
"Can we talk over lunch sometime? About the thing?" Derek nodded and Stiles' hand fell limply to his side. He purses his lips before shoving his hands into his pockets and walking backwards.  
"Drive safe." He calls out before turning around and returning to the group. He gets in his car, a stupid smile on his face as he pulls away.


	14. If You Love Me, Come Clean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lost track of time! Sorry for the late update! Check the end for notes :)

Derek is at his wits end by the time four in the afternoon rolls around. He's on his thirteenth hour at the hospital with only two hours of sleep and his wolf is ready to tear his boss a new one for keeping him this late. A bus had been turned over in a car accident and immediate surgeries were needed and Derek almost cried when he was told he would be staying for a few more hours. He had called Laura to inform her not to wait on him since he was going to be needed back at the hospital around ten that night. He had two hours to himself so he sat down in the cafeteria; he found it usually empty around this hour.   
Of course that lasted about a full three minutes before Nurse Harper - an older woman with peppered hair - stood in front of him.  
"Doctor Hale?" He sighed and was about to stand before Nurse Harper laid a hand on his shoulder, indicating for him to remain seated.  
"No rush, this is your break. There is someone here to visit you though." And he should've smelled it if it weren't for the fact that he was in a hospital and dealt with antiseptics everyday. A musky earth tone infused with spices that Derek wanted to drown himself in everyday. He peered behind her and saw Stiles standing there, texting on his phone with those ridiculously long fingers before he looked up and smiled.  
"Hey." Derek said as Nurse Harper left them to it. The smile never left Stiles' face as he walked over, pulling out the metal scrap that they call a chair in this hospital.  
"Brought lunch, well dinner actually. Unless you already ate. You didn't eat did you?" He tilted his head to the side and Derek mentally cursed himself for repeatedly falling in love with him. He knows it's not Stiles' fault but could he at least dial down the adorableness whenever Derek was near vicinity.   
"I didn't actually. How did you know I was here?" Stiles started to unpack everything he had shoved in a picnic basket onto the table.  
"I was working earlier and asked Isaac if you were going to be there around three. He said you had to help out with some surgeries so I figured you'd still be here. Good thing too, otherwise this would be extremely awkward carrying around." He patted the basket before putting it on the ground beside his feet.  
"Thanks."  
"And here I thought we moved past the one-syllable phase after high school." He winked and Derek growled inwardly because he was so screwed.   
They ate quietly for a bit; or actually somewhat quietly because Stiles is a nosey eater and he absolutely knows he's torturing Derek with the way he's sucking those devil fingers. Derek contemplated grabbing his hands and sucking his fingers off himself but he knows how utterly awkward that would be if he had to explain to the other patrons in the cafeteria as to why he did that. He coughs a bit and Stiles looks up, those honey eyes sparkling in the fluorescent light.   
"Why are you here?"  
"Hmm? Oh! Because we needed to talk about, uh, things." He flails his arms around and Derek is momentarily overwhelmed with the fact that Stiles is still the same and Derek is the only one who's truly changed.   
"That's not what I meant." He puts the sandwich he's been clutching in his hand and focuses all his attention on Stiles. He watches his Adam apple bob up and down as he gulps on a bite.   
"You mean why did I decide now was a good time to return?" Derek gives a stiff nod and watches the way Stiles tries to find a way to perfectly phrase what he's going to say next.  
"You know when my mom died, I was only seven. I think I spent most of my time staring at my wall for hours straight before I went to the park again. That's where I met Scott. I was still in a state of shock and I couldn't even tell him my name so he brought Melissa over and she did what she does best - take care of those who needed it."  
"Stiles, what does th-"  
"I'm not done," Derek nods and waits for Stiles to continue, "She called my dad after a few hours and when he came over, I saw something in him light up and I was furious because how could he already forgot about my mom when she died only days before?" He clenched his fist and all Derek wanted to do was take away the fury he was feeling.  
"I guess at the time I didn't understand love and I guess I still don't but then I remembered stumbling into your preserve and running into you and I realize love happens to anyone. You get caught up in it and it feels like you're drowning but you never want to resurface because the burn feels so goddamn good." His honey-colored eyes filled with unshed tears and Derek knew he wasn't far behind from releasing his own.   
He wasn't prepared for what Stiles said to him next.  
"I thought I loved you," He inhales a sharp breath before continuing, "I thought I loved you when we were in your kitchen and you gave me that stupid blue fucking journal and all I could think about were the ways your eyes looked like they could tear my soul apart and I was so willing to let it happen. But then you turned your back on me." His eyes moved to look at Derek, "You told me you couldn't love a human because I was worthless and meaningless pastime to distract you from the chaotic shit that happened around us. And you know what? I believed every single venom word you spewed at me because who could ever love a disease like me?" He wiped away at his eyes because they had begin to splatter on his shirt like paint. Derek couldn't handle this any longer; all he wanted to do is close the distance and tell Stiles he's sorry for everything that happened because of him.  
"On my way here, I wanted to tell you off and possibly end the talk with some kissing because I'm so goddamn obsessed with pleasing you, but now that I think about it, I want to hurt you the way you hurt me."   
"I deserved every single thing you said to me, Stiles. I don't deserve to have someone like you after the way I treated you. Hell, I'm still disappointing you! You didn't have to come here and tell me all of this because I live through it everyday ever since you left five years ago." He was watching Stiles with a sad look but instead found Stiles looking completely pissed off. In a second, he was up on his feet, crowding Derek's personal space.  
"After all these years, you're still the victim? You make it seem like I was the one who shut you out, who gave up because they were scared of some sort of commitment. Cry me a fucking river, Hale! You don't get to have a pity party because of the destruction you left behind."  
"What do you want me to say Stiles?! I can't say I'm sorry because even if I wholeheartedly mean it, it's thrown back in my face! And when I say that I deserved everything you said to me, you say I can't say that. So tell me, what the hell am I supposed to do?" He was standing up now, holding onto Stiles' wrist, trying to secure himself more so than keeping Stiles close. Or maybe it was both?  
"Tell me I'm worth it." To a human, the words Stiles whispered wouldn't have been heard, but Derek heard it as if Stiles said as clear as day. In a second, he was arms-length away but now, he stood close to Stiles. Noses brushing noses, lips dragging against each other. He couldn't just tell Stiles he was so worth it, he'd have to _show_ him.   
He hesitated a bit when Stiles pulled back but closed the distance when a warm hand was placed on his cheek.   
The kiss was slow; like the first time they kissed. Derek's hand enclosed around the back of Stiles' neck, bringing him closer. Derek could hear the soft whines coming from within but he didn't care. He was kissing Stiles like he was his only source of survival - and maybe it was.  
They were interrupted by a soft cough. Derek pulled back and looked at Nurse Harper, an unsteady look crossing her face before she smiled sheepishly at him.  
"Doctor Hale?" Derek glanced back over at Stiles who was currently much more interested in the picnic basket rather than anything else.  
"What is it Harper?" He sighed as he absentmindedly started handing containers to Stiles; a silent offer.  
"Looks like a patient is looking for you. I'm so sorry to interrupt your break." He gave her a small smile before turning his whole attention to Stiles. Stiles was now angrily stuffing the remaining half-empty containers away.  
"We're not done here." At some point, Derek had grabbed Stiles' wrist again and his grip had tightened as Stiles tried to free his hand.  
"I think we are." Derek loosened his grip and with his free hand, forced Stiles' chin up.   
"No we're clearly not. We need to do this somewhere else. I leave around two in the morning, wait up for me?" Stiles knew that was a ridiculous time to await someone but he found himself nodding nonetheless before picking up the basket and leaving without a second word.   
Derek watched before he turned back to the nurse, a smirk on her lips.  
"What?" He snapped as he headed for the elevators.  
"Didn't know you had a sweet spot for anyone over the age of ten." He groaned as she chuckled lightly beside him.

^

Stiles rolled around in his bed, currently content with the coolness of his pillows against his cheek. A buzzard sound broke his dream and he whined and made grabby hands in the dark - as if they could bring back the dream.  
"I don wun pizza." He grumbled in his sleep as the sound refused to stop. He figured the only way to get it to stop was to actually see where it as coming from so he - after a few minutes - got up and walked towards his door, fixing his boxers since they were practically hanging off his ass.   
"Hmm?" He opened his door and peered outside, a retreating figure was heading towards the elevator and it took him a few seconds to remember Derek was coming over at this time.  
"Derek?" The figure turned around and he was greeted with a small smile.   
"Come in. Sorry." He made way for Derek to enter.   
"Sorry, fell asleep. Forgot." He said through a yawn and Derek just nodded, looking around the apartment as he stood in the middle of his living room. It gave Stiles a chance to really look at Derek. He had aged beautifully. His green eyes seemed pale in the darkened room and the stubble he had ever since Stiles could remember, still remained intact. The only thing that was different were the predominant dark circles that clung to the bottom of his eyes.  
"Hey," Stiles reached over and placed a hand on his bicep, "Why don't you get some sleep? We can talk tomorrow." Derek nodded and started walking towards the sofa and Stiles laughed a bit.  
"Don't be ridiculous. That couch might look comfortable but kills your back. The bed is far more comfortable. Unless, you find that weird?"   
"It's fine Stiles. Thank you." They walk in the room and Stiles lets Derek get undressed and under the covers before he joins him.   
They lay their in silence a bit before Stiles hears Derek's soft snores invade his left ear and he has to force himself to not reach over and rub his thumb over his cheek. 

^

He awakes to limbs clutching his torso and thighs closer to a furnace of a human-being. As uncomfortable as some people would find this proximity, Stiles loved the way Derek was a big cuddler unlike him. He liked being the big spoon and he knows Derek loves being the little spoon. Speaking of which...  
"What are we doing?" He knows Derek is awake so he doesn't feel stupid for talking out loud. He feels Derek tense up a bit before he relaxes and squeezes Stiles   
"I don't know. I just know it feels right. I feel like I'm home again. I've missed home." Now it was Stiles turn to freeze before a shit-splitting grin etched onto his face and he turned around to face Derek.   
"It's taken you almost six years to say you love me?"   
"Well it's taken you six years to hear it. I'm tired of fighting this feeling." Derek presses his lips to Stiles' own and normally Stiles would find kissing right after they wake up disgusting but this new revelation made his head spin and his heart ache and fuck, he needs this.   
Stiles practically squealed when Derek pulled him onto his lap, positioning them anew so that their necks didn't hurt from kissing at a weird angle. Stiles practically reveled in the thought that he could freely grind on Derek and Derek wasn't much to object either as he met each aborted grind Stiles offered. Derek let his kisses wander down Stiles' mouth to nip at his jaw and down to his neck where he freely bit and sucked, leaving marks for everyone to see. Derek also took this opportunity to grip the curve of Stiles' ass and have the pleasure of hearing the curses and moans fall from Stiles' lips as his grinding became more erratic.   
That was all short lived because Scott came flying through the door and practically screamed like a girl at the sight before him.  
"Scott! Are you fucking serious!?"  
"Dude, what the fuck!? I'm starting to hate your soundproof living room!"  
"I was about to get devirgnized and you ruined it!" Derek starting moving his hands slowly off of Stiles before stopping short.  
"Wait, you're still a virgin?"   
"Derek!"   
"Scott!"  
"Stiles?" Derek turned to look at the sheriff who was trying really hard to figure out a way to unseen what he walked into.  
"Oh my god, this is embarrassing. Please let me die." Stiles buried his head into Derek's neck and all Derek could do is chuckle.  
"Can you two get yourselves up. And Stiles, could you maybe warn when you have company over?"  
"Dad! Please stop." Stiles was oozing embarrassment and it was really hard not to laugh at this whole situation.  
"You're the worst." Stiles hit Derek's chest limply after everyone had left.   
"Your dad hasn't walked in on us ever since you were sixteen. And that was when we thought we were being secretive." Derek stretched underneath Stiles and smiled up at him. Stiles narrowed his eyes at him.  
"You're awfully happy about all this."  
"Considering I've been waiting for this moment for a really long time, yeah, I am."  
"You wanted my dad to walk in on us? That's a weird kink you got there Der." His wolf rumbled at the nickname Stiles had specifically used for him ever since Stiles was sixteen.  
"Not that idiot." He shoved playfully at Stiles who laughed before leaning down and placing a kiss on his lips.  
"Love you."  
"Love you too."  
"Can you two quit with the mushy talk? One of us here is a werewolf!" They both heard Scott call out.   
They didn't leave the bedroom for another couple of minutes because they were both doubled in laughter and kissing each other senseless whenever either one stopped to take a breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have surprises for you all! I am currently writing up three new Sterek stories! Two are chapter while the other one is a one-shot! Very excited for these and hope you all will continue reading my works :)
> 
> Also I'm ending this in two chapters because I decided to not end it originally the way I planned it haha.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I'm so bad at posting on this site but I hope it intrigues people :)


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